Guest Post from Rainbow Rowell, author of Attachments

You may remember my review of Attachments from several weeks back where I proclaimed the book was my favorite book of all time. Well I am giddy with excitement that Rainbow was kind enough to write a guest post for me to share with you!

When I started writing my first novel, Attachments, there was one thing I knew for certain:

I didn’t want to write a character who could be played by Matthew McConaughey.

Not that I dislike Matthew McConaughey. (He seems really nice, doesn’t he? Even with the bongo playing?)

But Matthew McConaughey represents a certain type of romantic-comedy hero that I’ve come to loathe.

The man-pig.

The bad boy. The louchebag. The guy who has to be tamed or fixed – or by-true-love cured.

When it’s not Matthew McConaughey in this role, it’s Gerard Butler. Or Josh Duhamel. Or occasionally even my precious Hugh Jackman.

It’s always somebody who looks good with his shirt off because that’s what this character has instead of redeeming qualities – a really spectacular chest. It’s supposed to be disarming, I think.

But it’s not.

For me, there’s nothing romantic – or even darkly irresistible – about a roguishly handsome guy who treats women like Kleenex. When one of these characters comes on screen, I always want Katherine Heigl to run the other way as fast as she can. (It’s always Katherine Heigl, isn’t it? Someone in Hollywood loves watching Katherine Heigl fall in love with lower primates.)

This stereotype – the guys who hates women until he finds the right one – isn’t just gross; it’s kind of a dangerous lie.

In real life, guys are either sexist, misogynist creeps or good guys who usually try to do the right thing. I’ve never met a creep who was just one Kate Hudson encounter away from being a great catch.

It’s insulting to men, I think, to imply that they need Kate Hudson to turn them. That they have to be tricked into wanting love at all.

And it’s insulting to love to imply that this is the point.

Falling in love isn’t about turning a bad person good. It’s about finding someone who’s already good – the specific kind of good that brings out the best in you.

Which brings me to Lincoln.

Lincoln is the main character of my novel, Attachments. He’s an IT guy who gets hired by a newspaper to make sure that nobody is abusing the company’s internet and email. (The book takes place in 1999.) Lincoln has to read everybody’s mail, and in doing so, he falls in love with a woman who works in the newsroom – a film critic who has strong feelings about romantic comedies.

I don’t want to tell you everything about Lincoln because I’m kind of hoping you’ll read my book. But I will tell you that he’s unapologetically good from the get-go.

He loves his mother, he looks up to his sister. He’s the kind of guy who opens doors for you because he opens doors for everyone, because it’s just a polite thing to do.

But being nice doesn’t make Lincoln boring.

It makes his whole journey more meaningful. Trying to do the right thing is so much harder and more exciting than being a jerk.

Of course … I hope that people who read the book also feel this way.

The last thing I want to read in reviews is, “Needs more McConaughey.”

Guest Post from Sarah MacLean, author of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord

Today I am so excited to welcome Sarah MacLean the author of two of my favorite books (The Season-YA and Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake-Romance and also my first ever and favorite romance novel!) and I'm sure a soon to be third favorite, Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord which is out tomorrow! I'm so excited about Sarah's guest post, it meshes her interests with mine so well!!!!

I’ve been lurking around and reading Alea’s blog for years—since before the release of The Season, and I love this blog (and not just because Alea has always been kind to me in reviews).  I love its passion for books and the community that it has built as part of first, the YA book blogging world, and now the wider world of book lovers.


I also have a soft spot in my heart for Alea because (as you may know) I was her first romance novel.  My March release, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, was the first romance she’d ever read . . . and it sucked her into this genre that I love so much.  Over the last months, Alea has asked me for recommendations and encouraged me to make recommended lists on my blog, but today, I thought I’d make her a list here—and why stop at books?  

In celebration of my new release, Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord and Pop Culture Junkie, I give you:

Sarah MacLean’s Top Ten Pop Culture Romances (no Romance Novels included)

1. Elizabeth Bennett & Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice – I write historical romance. This has to be number one.  But it also has to be on the list because Lizzie and Darcy are such a perfect match. He’s arrogant to a fault, and she’s the only lady with guts enough to stand up to him. Is it any wonder he can’t resist?

2. Susan Vance & David Huxley, Bringing up Baby – Played by Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, Susan and David are the best opposites attract couple ever.  He’s a nervous, uptight paleontologist with an obsession for dinosaur bones and she’s a wild heiress who has lost her leopard, Baby. It’s love at first sight for her . . . and something entirely different for him . . . and pure, luxurious fun for us.

3. Harry Burns & Sally Albright, When Harry Met Sally – The greatest friends-into-lovers story ever.  You know it right from the beginning, these two are meant to be. But it takes years and years, and they have to (of course) screw it up before it all ends in smooching.  

4. Westley & Buttercup, The Princess Bride by William Goldman – Yes. You read that right. I’m foregoing the adorable Cary Elwes-portrayed Westley in favor of the fictional character Westley because, I don’t care how good the movie is, the book is about a hundred times better. And, if you’ve never read it and you love the movie, go now and get a copy. You’ll feel like it’s Christmas in July. Or, October, as the case may be.

5. Florentino & Fermina, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Unrequited love has never read so well.

6. Mu Bai & Shu Lien, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – So beautiful. So devastating. I defy you to watch this movie and not weep. The love story is incredible.

7. Meghann Cleary & Father Ralph de Bricassart, The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough – Ok. It’s a weird story. Parish priest falls for young, beautiful parishioner in an immense, epic tale that spans three generations and something like 40 years. Here’s the thing . . . he can’t have her. He’s a priest. And you can’t put the book down because it’s so very over the top and awesome.

8. Josh Lyman & Donatella Moss, The West Wing – Seven years of witty banter *finally* pays off. And it’s worth every single episode. Also, Donna has what is possibly the greatest line ever in the history of romance lines:

Josh: “If you were in an accident, I sure wouldn’t stop for a beer.”

Donna: “If you were in an accident, I wouldn’t stop for red lights.”

9. Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward – At least one of these romances had to be a real couple . . . and these two are it.  They were married for 50 years despite fame and fortune and all the trouble that comes with it.  And to make it all even better, when asked about infidelity, Newman once said, “Why go out for hamburger when you have steak at home?” Love.

10. Lady & the Tramp – Classic, right? She’s fancy pants, he’s from the wrong side of the tracks. She’s uptight, he teaches her to let loose.  It’s a story that’s been told hundreds of times and never gets old. But it rarely gets done better than this. Don’t believe me?  Go watch it again, now. I bet it’s better than you remember. 

I also have the opportunity to giveaway a signed copy of Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord to one of you!

Here is how to enter!

Fill out the giveaway entry form here.

The giveaway is open to addresses within the US only.

The giveaway will end November 8th at 6:59 pm Central Time.

Entries left in the comments of this blog post will not be counted, please fill out the giveaway entry form.

**Prize provided by the author**

Guest Post from Loretta Chase, author of Last Night's Scandal

Today I'm excited to welcome Loretta Chase to talk about her newest book Last Night's Scandal and what an unmarried young woman of the 19th century has in common with a young woman of today!

Dear Alea,

I was thinking a lot about what an unmarried 19th century young woman would have in common with a young woman today. I know they’d be asking some of the same questions, “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?” “Why are men like that?” But—

Ow! Olivia, this is my—

No, it isn’t. I’m the 19th century girl. You can just go back to your smelly old Books, Miss My-Name-Is-Research Loretta Chase. I can take it from here.

I may have been born in 1809, but of course I know what a Blog is. It is a collection of Opinions, Essays, Divertissements, and such. Over the Topic of How I Mastered Computing Devices, let us draw a Veil of Discretion. If my Parents find out, I promise you they Will Not Understand, and I shall be Exiled Again—to the Country, which is like being sent to Outer Mongolia or the Gobi Desert. IOW, it is a Great Wasteland where there is NO DANCING and NO SHOPPING, and the MEN talk of nothing but Sports or, worse, Pigs.

At present, I have Troubles enough. Due to my slightly higher-than-normal rate of Broken Engagements and a few Minor Indiscretions (I do not see what is so Dreadful about challenging Lord Bentwhistle to a Duel—and there is a Reasonable Explanation for the Gambling Incident—and I have no idea where those Naughty Books came from), my family have decided it is time for me to get Married. Unlike You, I am not to think of having a Career (how Thrilling that sounds!) Instead, I shall spend the rest of my life being Somebody’s Wife and Somebody’s Mother and I shall never have the Great Adventures I’d always believed were my Destiny.

Meanwhile, my dear, dear friend the Earl of Lisle has his own Family Troubles, though he is a Male, and, as we all know, Men can do as they please, and no one sends Them out to die of Boredom with cows and pigs. But Lisle is not like other Gentlemen. He lives and breathes for Egypt. Let him catch sight of a smelly, crumbling Mummy or a ragged bit of Papyrus or even one of those little Wooden People he sends me from time to time—then, even Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love herself could not obtain his Undivided Attention, even if she appeared Naked on a large Shell.

Not that I personally have tried this Experiment with him. In the first place, you would not believe how many Layers of Clothing a fashionable 19th Century Girl needs to remove. In the second place, it is quite unnecessary, since I know him as well as I know myself. He is like a brother to me—sometimes an extremely annoying brother, but a brother all the same. I assure you, there is no foolish Romantic attachment of any kind, whatever Madam Authoress chooses to Imply.

However, I cannot stand idly by while his Demented Parents embark on a Scheme I know will destroy his happiness, with possibly FATAL RESULTS. It is my Duty as his Friend to SAVE HIM. Yes, I know he doesn’t want to be saved, but that doesn’t Signify. Men never know what’s Good for them. He doesn’t know it, but we are going to Scotland—along with two slightly deranged friends of my dear Great-Grandmama, and an army of servants—to a HAUNTED CASTLE. I shall have one last Great Adventure, and rescue Lisle at the same time. Then I shall try to be content with my lot. Either that or I shall run away.

Yours sincerely,
Olivia Carsington


I also have the opportunity to giveaway a copy of Last Night's Scandal to one of you!

Here is how to enter!

Fill out the giveaway entry form here.

The giveaway is open to addresses within the US only.

The giveaway will end October 7th at 6:59 pm Central Time.

Entries left in the comments of this blog post will not be counted, please fill out the giveaway entry form.

**Prize provided by the publisher**

Guest Post from Jennifer Solow, author of The Aristobrats

Today I'm pleased to welcome Jennifer Solow, the author of The Aristobrats. When Jennifer mentioned that Sex and the City played a part in her book I had to know more!

What does my new book have to do with Candace Bushnell’s shoes?

I met Candace Bushnell a couple of years ago when I was asked to interview her on stage at The Lark Theater. I was extremely intimidated and it took me something like five days of outfit planning and a whole box of Rembrandt teeth whitening strips just to get to begin to get mentally ready.

Candace arrived at The Lark Theater rockstar-late, chain-smoking, possibly tipsy, impossibly thin, unfairly charming, and of course, wearing spectacular shoes. I arrived nervously early, stone sober, teeth hypersensitive from all that whitening, wiping my sweaty armpits with a piece of Kleenex I found in my car and, luckily, also wearing über-chic footware. Even more über-chic, I thought, than Candace Bushnell’s. Imagine that.

The killer shoe thing gave me the boost of confidence I needed and, thusly, I was able to conduct the interview while projecting a façade of utter poise and élan.

Candace and I sat in the spotlight chatting about this and that (honestly I don’t remember much because of the nervousness-induced amnesia), but I do remember that I had come to the stage armed with not only my gorgeous pair of Pradas, but the knowledge that my interviewee had just signed a book deal to write The Carrie Diaries, the pre-prequel to SATC – the younger days of our favorite foursome of friends.

When I asked her about it, she answered in a way you’d expect an impossibly thin, possibly tipsy, chain-smoking, mega-wealthy author/producer/other important stuff person to answer – she seemed to have absolutely no idea what I was talking about. Well, so there went about twenty minutes of what I’d hoped Candace and I would be talking about on the stage at The Lark, but for weeks I kept thinking about the fab four and their younger days.

I’d already begun work on my own kinda diary-book-thing (and when I say “begun work” I mean four notebooks of emo scribble-babble started and almost immediately abandoned when I was still in high school). So when Dan Ehrenhaft approached me about writing a YA series, I pulled out the old notebooks and the vague memory of a very odd interview with Candace Bushnell and her less-great shoes.

Now I love the Sex and the City friendship. I love the cocktails. I love the clothes. I love the hair. I love the closets. But most of all, I love them. There are days when I wish I could call Miranda and get some sensible advice, meet Charlotte at Neiman’s to talk female issues, go bar-hopping in an up-to-there couture frock with Samantha, then sit down at my typewriter with my mass of Garnier Nutrisse curly blonde locks to write something pithy, vulnerable and wise: “As we speed along this endless road to the destination called who we hope to be, I can’t help but whine, ‘Are we there yet?’”

Almost every female I know can see herself in one of these characters – or an amalgamation of more than one of them. Like I may have mentioned or at least heavily alluded to, I like to imagine myself a ‘Carrie’ with her quirky, mismatched, yet impeccably sophisticated sense of style, her not-to-beautiful-to-hate good looks, her charming insecurities and, I’ll just say it, her extremely perky boobies. But in truth, I’m often more a ‘Miranda’: wound up too tightly, perennially PMS-ing, and waging a war between work and life and losing at both. I’d like to say I have some ‘Charlotte’ in me: Upper East Side ready, innocent and romantic, hopelessly optimistic and unequivocally pretty. But there never was much Charlotte in me. Sorry, I’m just not a Charlotte kinda girl. I’m definitely a Samantha when I can muster her up: when the world feels like it should revolve around me, when I can’t help thinking about the naughty bits of my yoga instructor, when I can pick myself up, brush myself off and keep on walking even though my 5” heel just broke off.

So even though it’s been out for a while now, the Carrie Diaries is not on my bookshelf nor do I plan to put it there. Why spoil the fantasy? But I did spend some time as I was preparing to write The Aristobrats thinking about the qualities that shape characters like those, characters that are able to make such an indelible mark on our emotional landscape. So much so that we wish they were our own friends.

So what would they have been like in their early teens?

Like the older versions of themselves, Samantha, I thought, would be unabashedly self-centered and flirtatious, in denial of any faults she might have and undyingly loyal. I thought Charlotte probably would have channeled her romantic hopefulness into obsessing over what college she’d get into, never getting in trouble for anything, and championing the unfair and unjust. I pictured Miranda a mini-me of what she is now: at odds with her own femininity, quietly smart, and in desperate need of a well-padded bra.

They are not perfect women and they probably weren’t perfect girls. It’s easy to make a list of what they’ve done that we don’t approve of, glaring mistakes that they can’t seem to stop making, or what they’ve worn that we wouldn’t be caught dead in (I mean “you” when I say “we” because I would happily be caught dead in anything they’ve worn).

And in recent years, a.k.a. the zillion-dollar movie franchise, they’ve become glossier than we’d hoped, less fault-filled, more manicured. But in the end, the answer is simple: we love them because they love each other.

So I set out to write characters like that. With super white teeth. Who wear great shoes.

Jennifer Solow, bestselling author of THE ARISTOBRATS

Which Aristobrat Are You? Take the Quiz.

Watch the trailer here.

Guest Post from Amanda Howells, author of The Summer of Skinny Dipping

Today I'm pleased to welcome Amanda Howells the author of The Summer of Skinny Dipping. The ending of the book definitely caught me by surprise and Amanda offered to stop by and talk more about it! Thanks for stopping by Amanda!

SUMMER SWEETNESS, SUMMER SADNESS

Thanks, Alea, for asking me to guest post about the ending of my novel, The Summer of Skinny Dipping. I'll do my best not to give away the particulars so that those who haven't read it won't get a spoiler from me, the person who most wants you to read it! Instead, I'll tell you a bit about why my novel goes in a tragic direction, rather than give away exactly what happens.

The first thing that sparked this novel was the title—not the plot, not a character's voice speaking to me. As some of you may already know, I just woke up one morning with the book title in my head. Once I had the title, certain other elements fell into place. Of course the book was going to be a summer romance—a genre I've always been drawn to. And yes, there would be skinny dipping! I didn't know much about the couple, Mia and Simon, in the early stages of writing but I knew it would be a love story and somehow, I just knew it wasn't going to have a happy ending. In fact the very first concrete scene that came to me was the final scene: I saw a girl standing on the beach after this epic summer, thinking about a boy she loved. Behind her, the summer house she had known since her childhood stood empty—everyone scattered, the summer gone.

So I started this story with a very clear image of the end. I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen to bring my character to that beach, alone. The rest of the writing process was a kind of backwards move, gradually uncovering who these characters were and what choices they made to arrive at the denouement, where Mia reflects on the tragic but also magical summer that is now behind her.

Sad endings are risky. They can certainly alienate readers, especially for a romance with a title and cover like mine—a book that promises a "beach read." I can see how for those seeking something light and fun, the ending of my novel might give them the opposite of what they were looking for in the first place. And there are also readers who enjoyed the novel's deeper themes but still felt upset with the ending: it's unpredictable and upsetting. For some, too much so.

It's not for me to say whether the ending works—my readers seem evenly split between liking it and not. I will say that what might be an unfortunate surprise to the reader felt inevitable to me all along. The ending chose me, not the other way around. Ditto the title. Once I had it I knew it was for keeps, even though in some ways the title has worked against me, suggesting something lighter and sexier than what the book really is, costing me readers who might love the book and perhaps attracting those who won't like it instead. But that's a risk I had to take to be true to the story I wanted to tell.

There's a lot more I could say about what informed my characters and ultimately, where they end up. Various books had an influence, sad stories that made an impression on me when I was young and while writing The Summer of Skinny Dipping. And then there's The Great Gatsby, the ultimate American story of doomed love and broken dreams—a novel that I draw on quite heavily in my own. There's so much that consciously affected the decisions I made in this story, and then there's also that mysterious part of writing, where characters just tell you where they want to go.

Ultimately, I can only hope that whether readers love or hate the ending, it doesn't overwhelm the story. I wanted to write something truly bittersweet, equal parts sadness and happiness, equal parts sorrow and joy. Like love itself, like life itself. Because for better and worse, nothing is perfectly wonderful nor perfectly terrible. And nothing lasts forever—not even summer which, especially when you're young and out of school for a vacation, can seem blissfully endless. I surely remember how time itself feels irrelevant when there are no clocks to wake you in the morning, no school bells ringing—just lovely lazy, balmy days, each slowly stretching out into the next…

I'll leave this post here. This time I'll give you a simple happy ending, lingering on that happy thought, and on that beautiful word so filled with possibility: summer.

Blog Tour: One Dance with a Duke by Tessa Dare

Welcome to the first of three blog tour stops for the Tessa Dare Stud Club Trilogy, check back for the final 2 later this summer! Today I have a guest post from the author, review, and a giveaway for the entire trilogy later this afternoon!

Here's a bit about the book:

Amazon.com:

In One Dance with a Duke—the first novel in Tessa Dare’s delightful new trilogy—secrets and scandals tempt the irresistible rogues of the Stud Club to gamble everything for love.

A handsome and reclusive horse breeder, Spencer Dumarque, the fourth Duke of Morland, is a member of the exclusive Stud Club, an organization so select it has only ten members—yet membership is attainable to anyone with luck. And Spencer has plenty of it, along with an obsession with a prize horse, a dark secret, and, now, a reputation as the dashing “Duke of Midnight.” Each evening he selects one lady for a breathtaking midnight waltz. But none of the women catch his interest, and nobody ever bests the duke—until Lady Amelia d’Orsay tries her luck.

In a moment of desperation, the unconventional beauty claims the duke’s dance and unwittingly steals his heart. When Amelia demands that Spencer forgive her scapegrace brother’s debts, she never imagines that her game of wits and words will lead to breathless passion and a steamy proposal. Still, Spencer is a man of mystery, perhaps connected to the shocking murder of the Stud Club’s founder. Will Amelia lose her heart in this reckless wager or win everlasting love?

Let's start with a guest post from the author!

There’s a phrase I’d like to banish. Okay, not banish – because I really don’t believe in banishing phrases. But let’s just say, I wish I didn’t hear it quite so often. It’s this one:

“Guilty pleasure.”

A lot of romance readers use this phrase. I’ve heard endless variations on “Romance novels are my guilty pleasure.” In fact, I’m relatively sure I’ve said it before myself, but only lately has it started to make me cringe.

I get the “pleasure” part of it. Romances are fun, entertaining, enjoyable. For those who love the genre, a great romance is pure reading joy. But why the “guilty”? Is romance supposed to be like potato chips or chocolate--detrimental to our health if we consume too much?

I suspect the “guilty” factor has more to do with time. Unlike eating, or even watching television, reading demands our focused attention. It’s hard (but not impossible!) to multitask while reading a book. Reading time is time we take exclusively for ourselves. Romance readers are mostly women, and women have busy lives. If you’re a doctor, mother, teacher—or all three—with a lot of people demanding your attention, it can be hard to carve that “me-time” out of the day.

Amelia, the heroine of One Dance with a Duke, struggles with this. As the only woman in a family of five brothers, she finds herself always tending to their needs, putting others first. It’s a dilemma with which I can readily sympathize, after making my fifteenth PB&J of the week, meticulously removing all evidence of crust so it can pass preschooler muster.

But that’s exactly why I think we should strive to filter the term “guilty pleasure” from our vocabulary. We work hard! We deserve to enjoy life’s little pleasures where we find them, without an ounce of guilt…be they romance novels, long baths, rock climbing trips, or something else. In fact, I’m off to have a pedicure right after I finish this post.

What’s your favorite not-so-guilty pleasure?

Thanks Tessa! Onto my review!

In One Dance with a Duke, we are introduced to a trilogy based around a club of men who together own a horse, The Stud Club. The Stud Club takes the focus at the beginning and towards the end of the book with the middle being my favorite part, the boy meets girl part! Maybe a bit too much horse and murder talk for me. I will admit though, I love a good mystery!

Heroine Amelia is rather likable, she’s not too worried about the fact that she is unmarried and puts her family first. When making all of her decisions she always thinks about how it will affect her family. She comes to know Spencer through one of her brother’s gambling debts. And I love the scene when they meet, it really shows off both of their personalities and how they sometimes (a lot of the time) clash.

I found Spencer to be a bit rough and aggressive towards Amelia at some points to the point of unattractiveness, most of the time in the way he spoke to her in the bedroom, but when the narration was from his perspective I found him to be a lot more likable then when we were viewing him from Amelia's eyes.

While this book didn't burn as bright for me as some of the others in the genre I have read, I think this is an intriguing set up for a trilogy with the mystery spanning what appears to be all three books. Can’t wait to find out more about the quiet and mysterious Rhys in the next book, Twice Tempted by a Rogue.

One Dance with a Duke was released on May 25th 2010
Genre: Historical Romance
3/5 Stars
Review copy provided by the publisher

And here is the hilarious trailer you must watch!

Guest Post: My Changing Taste in Romance by Sarah of YA Librarian Tales

Thanks to Sarah of YA Librarian Tales for stopping by to share a guest post about how her love of romance novels has changed over time!

My love and addiction for all things romance began when I was fourteen years old, at my first job. I was a shelver at my local library and suddenly, all these new books I had never bothered to discover were at my very fingertips. As a teen, I mostly skipped over the teen books of the time. I read Sweet Valley when I was eight or nine and then moved along into more complex adult novels, but not necessarily romance. Let me tell you, my mind was blown.

I clearly remember the first romance book I checked out. Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught was my introduction to the historical romance genre and I was hooked, no doubt about it. I loved the chemistry between Whitney and Clayton, the Duke of Westmoreland. I thought he was simply divine and I developed my own crush on him. I re-read that book many, many times, eventually buying my own copy. He gave me the shivers and I couldn't ever imagine how Whitney had resisted him for so long. Of course, I was a somewhat naive and very shy teenager so his domineering personality and take-charge attitude worked for me. He chased the girl; I liked that, plain and simple. Unfortunately, this is not a book that has stood the test of time for me.

When Alea kindly asked me to blog about my love for romance, I initially declined, now knowing what to talk about. But then it hit me and while I know it is not a new idea by any means, it's something I've been hoping to express for a long time. My tastes in romance have changed and grown so much since I was fourteen years old. What seemed sexy and romantic to me then is not the same anymore. In preparation for writing this post, I checked Whitney, My Love out of the library (oh the memories.) I started reading. And, I was not impressed which was why I have probably avoided this book for many, many years.

Clayton is not sexy and let me tell you, he is not romantic. He is pretty much a jerk and a rapist to boot. There is nothing remotely sexy about that, nothing lovey dovey about forcing yourself on your intended because you think she has been with someone else. There is nothing romantic in deciding you're going to get a mistress to pay back your wife for her treachery. And there is nothing whatsoever passionate or sensual about cruelty. Nothing, whatsoever. Here are a few choice excerpts from Clayton where he expresses his disgust with Whitney.

Abruptly the hand tightened and with one sharp tug he split the thin garment in two, flinging it away from her body. "Get into the bed," he ordered coldly.

Desperate to hide her nakedness, Whitney fled to the big fourposter and quickly pulled the sheets up to her chin, as if they could protect her from him. In a blur of unreality, she saw Clayton strip off his jacket. He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off, and she stared blindly at the rippling muscles of his powerful shoulders and arms then she twisted her head toward the wall and squeezed her eyes closed. His footsteps bore down on the bed, and she opened her eyes to see him towering menacingly above her.

"Don't cover yourself from me!" He caught the sheet and tore it from her clenched fists. "I want to see what I paid so handsomely for!" Pain slashed across his features as his gaze swept over her naked body, then his jaw hardened.

So romantic right?? Not at all. Tore, menacingly, bore down. Not exactly setting the scene for a passionate and equal love scene or relationship.

When he believes Whitney has been unfaithful to him yet again, but this time she is pregnant, he decides:

If she was going to bear a child, and he as going to have to give it his name, then by God he wasn't going to have to look at it and wonder whose it was! He'd send the brat away from his sight. But not right away. First he would let her keep the child for a year or two until she was deeply attached to it; then he would wrench the babe away from her.

Nice guy! Of course, Whitney finally seems to realize what he is doing.

He had done it again! Just what he had done the awful night he had dragged her here. He had accused her of something in his mind, tried and convicted and sentenced her, without ever telling her what crime she was accused of committing. Without ever giving her an opportunity to explain! And now--and now--he actually believed he could just set her aside, move to another wing of the house and pretend that their marriage was as dead as if it had never existed.

Clayton finally acknowledges his jackassery but it is way, way too late.

He wasn't worthy. Twice in their lives now he had treated her with a brutal viciousness of which he'd never known he was capable. God! She was nurturing his child within her womb and never once had he even asked how she was feeling. How could one slender girl bear the weight of such cruelty without hating him as he deserved?

Indeed. While I don't berate myself for liking these books as a young teen, I am glad I've grown enough to the point where I recognize that this is not romance, at least, not the kind of romance I want to read about.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if Whitney, while not a total doormat, isn't exactly the smartest romance heroine I've read. At the time, I thought she was a great character. Upon a more recent re-read, my opinion has definitely been revised. She's young for her age, no doubt, and the time period does give her some restrictions, but she takes what Clayton gives out, and she goes back to him. Not once, but twice. Theirs is not a relationship of equality and companionship, but a relationship of unequal power. And in my late twenties, that does not work for me any longer. Nor in fact do the Catherine Coulter, Sandra Brown, or Diana Palmer books I once devoured. While I feel a certain nostalgia for these authors, I do not buy their new material, I haven't in recent years re-read any of my old favorites. I've moved on to stories where the females are taking control of their relationship, where the power is not a struggle but more like a flowing current, and it is never, never used against the female in anger.

Some of my current favorite romance authors writing today are Victoria Dahl, Susan Mallery, Lisa Kleypas, Julie James, and Brenda Novak. I like it when my romance characters, particularly the females, are intelligent, when they are totally unashamed of their sexuality and femininity, and when the romance itself is not an argumentative falling in love, as in many romances of my early years. I need conversation, compromise, hope, and humor. Plenty of humor in fact because I love a snarky comment or a sarcastic retort.

I still like my men to be pretty much alpha heroes but they cannot be cruel or heck, I'd go so far as to say misogynistic at times as in Whitney, My Love. When I think of great male characters, Chase from Victoria Dahl's Lead Me On comes instantly to mind. He is sexy as hell but he is also a really genuine and caring guy. He is smart, is more than happy to show Jane how he feels about her, and he accepts everything about her. It's a rare combination sometimes in romance land.

Another favorite romance, After the Night by Linda Howard features a couple who give and take with passion and wit. Gray definitely bends towards the arrogant side of the male spectrum but Faith has no trouble putting him in his place. These two have a rocky courtship but as adults, they are able to find a more equitable and very fun relationship.

I still like to try new authors with my romances but I'm quicker to turn away from a writer for many reasons. My reading time has become much more important to me so I have to focus on romances that leave me happy and not pulling out my hair basically.

So while I'll perhaps always have a certain fondness for Judith McNaught, more out of nostalgia than anything else, she is not an author I plan on picking up any time soon, either for new books or re-reads.

If you're looking for a few great romance reads, with characters that are basically all kinds of awesome, I highly recommend reading any of the following titles: Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins, Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas, Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols, Wicked All Day by Liz Carlyle, Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling series starting with Slave to Sensation.

These are stories with emotion and heart, with passion for sure, but they lack the cruelty that made up my teenage romance reading. I'm impressed with the direction romance writers are going with their characters and I think this is a change for the better.

So, that's been my romance journey so far. Has there been a romance book that has affected you in one way or another? That you can no longer read or that has grown on you? And if you haven't started reading romance yet, I hope you'll give it a try!

Thanks Sarah!

My Nine Rules for Beginning Romance Readers!

Today I've shared my Nine Rules for Beginning Romance Readers over at Sarah MacLean's blog. She's the author that started my obsession, with Nine Rules to Break When Romancing A Rake! Go check it out and let me know what you think!

Guest Post: Confessions of a Closet Romance Reader by Irish of Ticket to Anywhere

Thanks to Irish of Ticket to Anywhere for stopping by to share her confession about romance novels!

Internet, I have a confession. Its one that may surprise you if you knew me in real life. Because Internet...I am a closet romance reader. *deep breath* There. I said it and its only because of me love for Alea that I admit this very little known fact about me. If people ask I will tell them that I only started to read romance recently...and then I’ll often clarify that with it’s the paranormal/vampire type books which aren’t really romance. Not like say, all those books with the scantily clad ladies locked in the embrace of an equally scantily clad hunk of a male. But in truth, it has been years. Many years.

You see Internet, my mom is a romance junkie. She always has been. In my parents house there were shelves upon shelves of books jammed in every which way. Now they were all romance but I’d say a good 85% of them were. I don’t recall when it first began but I started to sneak read some of her books. I started with some older Harlequin historicals as I have always been fascinated with the past. My public face would make fun of the romances my mom would buy week after week at the book store while I scoured the Fantasy section for Anne McCaffrey, RA Salvatore or the latest in the Forgotten Realms series. But when no one was around I’d whip out one of my mom’s stolen romances and devourer it. I read everything the Diana Palmer’s, the Nora Roberts, Amanda Quick, and Jayne R Krentz. Historicals were my favorites but there were many a contemporary I’d go back to again and again.

That’s right Internet. Not only was I reading Romances...but I was RE-READING them as well!

Then Internet it wasn’t long before I began to buy them as well. That’s around when I discovered Julie Garwood, Jo Beverly and many others. I would sneak these books into the house and hide them in my room. When I went off to college I would always have a stash of romances hidden under my bed. Tucked away where no one could see. And when someone would stumble on my secret I’d stumble, turn red and make up some lame excuse never sure if they bought it or not.

Even now, on my blog I keep up this lie that I am new to the genre. One of my recent posts was for Julie Garwood’s The Prize, in my review I make it seem like it was my first time reading this story. But Internet. It wasn’t. Not by a long shot. I’ve read this book dozens of times. First reading it back when it was published...in 1991. It was my first Julie Garwood and one of the first romances that I bought. Please don’t be mad at me Internet for this secret I’ve been keeping. I don’t know why I continue to do it. I’ve just been doing it for so long I don’t really know how to stop. Though, maybe now that my secret is out, now that I have confessed all to you. Maybe...just maybe I will change my ways.

Or

Maybe not.

But Internet know I do not mean to deceive...truly I don’t. Its just a long standing habit. So shh...you’ll help me keep my secret? Right?

Thanks Irish!

Guest Post: What I did to get romance books by Carol of Book-lover Carol's Reviews

Thanks to Carol of Book-lover Carol's Reviews for stopping by to share a guest post about her love of romance novels!

Around four to five years ago, my aunt called my mom to let her know that her neighbor was moving and had given her a box of books. Knowing that I loved to read, she gave them to me.

My aunt, who’s not a reader, didn’t realize that the majority of the books in the box were romances (and by that I mean Harlequin romances), and neither did my mom. Now, I could have let my mom know about them since I was only 14 or 15 at the time. But I was curious. I had just taken Sex Ed at school, and the Talk that my mom gave me was…odd to say the least. I was—am—a hormonal teenager who wanted to find out more about it without asking my mom or teacher because back then I was embarrassed.

The covers were “repulsive,” “raunchy,” and “inappropriate,” (at least they would have been called that had my mom seen them) but they still wanted to read them. Luckily—or conveniently—we had just come from the library so I had my library bag with me, not even halfway full, and it was nighttime so the inside of the van was dark. As we were driving home, I kept reaching towards the middle row (I was sitting in the last row, like I always do), getting one or two books at a time, rapidly—and quietly—shoving them into the bag. When I was reaching for the last four, we stopped at a red light, and a truck came towards us, honking its horn and illuminating the van. I almost had a heart attack right then and there; I was so sure that I had gotten caught when I saw my dad looking at me through the rear view mirror.

Groundings, lectures, and reading the Bible over and over again: those were the punishments that came to my mind. I knew that I would never hear the end of it. But my dad just chuckled at my expression and said, “Can’t wait to read those books, huh? Don’t worry, we’re almost home.” I couldn’t believe it; he hadn’t noticed! I grabbed the rest of the romances and shoved them into my bag. During the ride home, my leg kept shaking from my nervousness. When we arrived, neither of my parents noticed that the box was missing a couple of books. I had luck on my side.

My bag was overflowing, tearing at the bottom. Would the books fall out as I tried to sneak them in room? I kept wondering, nervous that someone would take one look at my face and see what I was trying to do. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around the bag, similarly to how you wrap a baby in a blanket, and carried it inside.

“Let’s take a look at your new books,” my mom said as soon as we came in through the door. She saw the lump that I was carrying, but only raised her right eyebrow and didn’t say anything.

“Um…let me just go change into some more comfortable clothing, okay?” I didn’t even wait for her reply, just ran up the stairs to my room, where I closed the door behind me, and let out a sigh of relief.

I hid them in a corner of my room, under a mountain of shoes, and they remain hidden there ‘til this day. I devoured all twenty five romances in five days, reading five each night for five days straight. I stayed up ‘til 3 AM reading them and falling asleep in class the next day, but I didn’t care—I was hooked. I’ve re-read them countless of times to keep my hunger for romances at bay. It wasn’t until a year ago that I started to buy e-books or download them for free (B&N, Amazon, eHarlequin—all free legal downloads, mmkay?). I’m a romance junkie and I’m not ashamed of that.

Thanks Carol!

Blog Tour: The Life of Glass by Jillian Cantor

Welcome to The Life of Glass blog tour! I'm pleased to host author Jillian Cantor today! Let's start with her guest blog!


Alea asked me to write about my writing rituals, and so I will confess, that I don’t actually have any writing rituals! I know some writers go to coffee shops or listen to playlists, or. . . I guess have actual things they must do and have in order to write. But for me, I need quiet. That’s it, just quiet and my computer. I like coffee, and if I’m writing in the morning and I have a cup, that’s nice, but not necessary. (There are plenty of times I write without coffee, too.)

Though quiet might not sound like a lot, at my house, it is. I have two little boys, both under the age of five, who I spend the majority of the day playing with, feeding, driving places, cleaning up after, etc. Quiet (and time on my own) is rare. And so I write in the afternoons for an hour or two when they’re napping. I write after they go to bed at night. Sometimes I write on weekend mornings when my husband is home to entertain them.

But I am usually trying to squeeze my writing into quick, fleeting pockets of time. The in-between spaces of life. There is no time for rituals or preparing myself to write. I just have to do it when I can, in those few rare hours a day where quiet prevails.

Maybe that’s the interesting thing about my “rituals” or my process, if you will. That I must be able to do it, on demand, when I can fit it in. My writing mantra over the past few years has simply been to set a daily goal for myself, whether it be a number of words or pages to write or a number of chapters to revise. I write these goals down, on scraps of paper, or sometimes, if I’m really feeling organized, on a calendar. And then I stick to them. I make myself stick to them. Even if I’m tired. Even if there’s a good show I’d rather be watching on TV. Even if I don’t feel like it.

Oddly enough, I’ve found I get a lot more done than I used to before I was so busy, back in those days before I had kids, when I actually had time and leisure to have some writing rituals. I think I get a lot more done because time feels a lot more valuable to me now, and so I’ve come to an understanding with myself on how not to waste it.

I’m curious, though, other writers – what rituals do you have? Are there things you need to have and do before you sit down to write, or like me, do you just have to squeeze it in when you can?

Thanks Jillian! Onto my review!

Amazon.com:

Before he died, Melissa's father told her about stars. He told her that the brightest stars weren't always the most beautiful—that if people took the time to look at the smaller stars, if they looked with a telescope at the true essence of the star, they would find real beauty. But even though Melissa knows that beauty isn't only skin deep, the people around her don't seem to feel that way. There's her gorgeous sister, Ashley, who will barely acknowledge Melissa at school; there's her best friend, Ryan, who may be falling in love with the sophisticated Courtney; and there's Melissa's mother, who's dating someone new, someone Melissa knows will never be able to replace her father.

To make sure she doesn't lose her father completely, Melissa spends her time trying to piece together the last of his secrets and finishing a journal he began—one about love and relationships and the remarkable ways people find one another. But when tragedy strikes, Melissa has to start living and loving in the present as she realizes that being beautiful on the outside doesn't mean you can't be beautiful on the inside.

This is a lyrical tale of love, loss, and self-discovery from the author of The September Sisters.

The Life of Glass is one of those books, one of those books that encompasses the whole high school/growing up experience and in my opinion the author does it beautifully.

At first glance I thought the book was going to be mostly about Melissa dealing with her dad's death and all the other things being sort of secondary plots but turns out her father's death was sort of the map that she experienced everything else on and it came together so perfectly. Melissa reads from her father's journal when she needs to feel close to him or just needs something, and one of my favorite parts of the book is inside that journal. Her father (and also Melissa) write these wonderful little stories of how couples met and got together (her parents, her parent's parents etc) and they were just so touching.

So as I mentioned the focus of the book is not just on Melissa and dealing with her grief but it's also about her family and how they move on, her friends (new and old in school) and finding love for the first time. I hated the way that Melissa's sister Ashley treated her and even her mother sometimes, they were sort of off in their own little world but what was really impressive was that Melissa didn't really care that she was not like them and did her own thing. Yes she grows and changes and finds more in common with them but she still remains her own person and I think that's one of the most important messages in the book.

And probably my favorite plot involved Melissa and her friend Ryan, they have been friends forever never thinking about anything more than hanging out and riding the wash and then new girl Courtney jumps in the middle of their friendship and turns everything upside down.

The Life of Glass is a wonderful book that covers so much and I definitely will be checking out Jillian's previous release and any other books she has to come!

The Life of Glass was released on February 9th 2010
Genre: Young Adult
4.5/5 stars
ARC provided for blog tour

And one more exciting thing!

THE LIFE OF GLASS GIVEAWAY

Enter to win free copies of Jillian Cantor's books and cool prizes! One grand prize winner will receive two glass spirit stones (one for you, one for a friend) from Arizona, where THE LIFE OF GLASS is set, along with an autographed copy of each of Jillian's novels: THE LIFE OF GLASS and THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS. Two lucky runners-up will receive a signed copy of THE LIFE OF GLASS. To be eligible, send an email to contests@jilliancantor.com with the subject line "The Life of Glass Giveaway". All e-mail entries must be received by midnight (PST) on February 14, 2010. The winners will be selected at random on February 15, 2010. Be sure to include your name and e-mail address with your entry (If you're under age 13, give your parent's contact info). One entry per person. Jillian Cantor's complete blog tour schedule can be found at www.jilliancantor.com. Good luck!

Blog Tour: In A Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

Welcome to the In A Heartbeat blog tour! Today I'm excited to host Loretta Ellsworth! Let's start with her guest blog!

Thank you, Alea, for asking me to be a guest blogger. My blog post today is about cellular memory. When I first started researching heart transplants, I’d never heard of the theory of cellular memory, which is the idea that memory is stored not just in our brains, but at the cellular level. If every cell in our body has its own mind and if you transfer tissues from one body to another, then the cells from the first body will carry memories into the second body.

I read about many cases of heart transplant recipients who felt as though they’d inherited new memories along with their new hearts. I read about a woman who’d received the heart of a young man who’d died after being stabbed in his lower back. After the surgery she experienced shooting pains in her lower back. Her husband reported that during the night she’d have nightmares and wake up screaming, pointing to her lower back. I read about people who experienced profound personality changes, who suddenly started liking different types of music and food than before, and others who dreamed of their heart donors. In his book The Heart’s Code, Paul Pearsall described the case in which a young girl received the heart of a murdered girl and who had nightmares about a man attacking her. Her description of the man was so detailed – the time, the weapon, the place, the clothes he wore, that her psychiatrist decided to call the police, and they were able to arrest the man based on her description.

Candace Pert is a scientist who has been studying how chains of amino acids, called neuropeptides, send messages back and forth between the brain and the body. It used to be thought that neuropeptides only existed in the brain, but now they’ve been found throughout the whole body, especially in the heart. And the heart has been found to have its own complex nervous system, which influences the communication between brain and heart.

What scientists don’t understand is why some people claim to have these memories and others don’t. Many doctors feel that these experiences are just side effects of the immunosuppressive drugs that patients take. In some online blogs I read, patients stated that they don’t tell their doctors about these feelings even when they do have them. I doubt there’s enough known about cellular memory to draw any conclusions at this time. But it does warrant more research and transplant patients do need validation of their feelings.

After reading these accounts, I knew that this would be the bridge for my two characters – a heart that would connect them in more ways than just as a donated pump. Eagan, who is so different from Amelia, helps her learn to live life to the fullest by the personality traits she passes on to her. And those newfound traits end up leading Amelia back to Eagan’s family.

If you’re interested in learning more, here’s a link to a video about cellular memory and heart transplants:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK6iPXHY_Nc

And if you’re interested in organ donation, here’s another link:
http://www.donatelife.net/

Thanks Loretta! Onto my review!

Amazon.com:

When a small mistake costs sixteen-year-old Eagan her life during a figure-skating competition, she leaves many things unreconciled, including her troubled relationship with her mother. From her vantage point in the afterlife, Eagan reflects back on her memories, and what she could have done differently, through her still-beating heart.

When fourteen-year-old Amelia learns she will be getting a heart transplant, her fear and guilt battle with her joy at this new chance at life. And afterwards when she starts to feel different—dreaming about figure skating, craving grape candy—her need to learn about her donor leads her to discover and explore Eagan’s life, meeting her grieving loved ones and trying to bring the closure they all need to move on.

Told in alternating viewpoints, In a Heartbeat tells the emotional and compelling story of two girls sharing one heart.


In a Heartbeat was a fascinating book about love, life and making changes told from the viewpoints of two teen girls, Eagan and Amelia.

I love how both Eagan (an ice skater that hits her head on a board during a performance and dies) and Amelia (a girl with a bad heart that receives Eagan's heart) have such different lives and never actually meet but compliment each others stories and learn from each other. It's a beautiful story that is made all the better but the short chapters that switch back and forth from both of their viewpoints.

If I was asked to compare this book with another I would say it has a few similarities with The Everafter, at least when it comes to Eagan's story. They both reflect back on someone's life and look forward into the everafter.

I love how one heart, Eagan's heart brings these two families together and changes both girls for the better. Eagan is able to let go of her regrets and past and Amelia is able to blossom and start her new life with her new heart. It's a wonderful book that I would definitely suggest!

In A Heartbeat was released on February 2nd!
Genre: Young Adult
4.5/5 Stars
ARC provided by author for tour
Loretta Ellsworth's website

And something really exciting, a chance to win a signed copy of In A Heartbeat!

Here's how to enter to win a signed copy of In A Heartbeat!

Fill out the giveaway entry form here.

The giveaway is open to addresses within the U.S. and Canada only.

The giveaway will end February 23rd at 6:59 pm Central Time.

**Copy provided by the author**