Professional Milestone

Today marks a professional milestone for me; Publishers Weekly published my very first—and bylined—feature article. Here's how it happened.

One of my PW editors, Rose Fox, emailed me a few weeks ago and asked if I'd be interested in working on a feature article for the upcoming romance issue of the magazine. The topic? Author online self-promotion. With a two-week turnaround time and a brief to include authors from a variety of imprints/lines/publishers, and a list of publicists for the major publishers, I jumped in.

Emails back and forth to the publicists, my suggestions and theirs, and I put together a list of more than 20 authors. They represented all romance subgenres, included debuting and long-published authors, those who kept it strictly professional online and those who treated readers to personal or off-the-cuff commentary, those who started blogging for fun and those who began to blog as part of a plan to become published. Some intrigued me for other reasons; one because she found a unique way to promote herself by not actively promoting herself, another because she'd sold a quarter of a million ebooks before being picked up by a mainstream publisher, and a third because of her pop culture connections. I did not know most of the authors, but some I knew from my years at AAR.

Twenty interviews later, with 36 pages worth of Q&A and follow ups, I sat down to actually write the article. It took me two eight-hour days to complete it, and another couple of hours to come up with the sidebar of do's and don'ts Rose asked me to pull out of the article itself and use to create a sidebar, along with quotes from the interviews to match.

My draft was due to Rose on Monday, November 14th; because I'd exceeded the 2,100 word count by 500 words (what else is new?), and didn't have a clue if it was any good whatsoever, I emailed it to her the Friday before so she would have plenty of time to edit (and I could rewrite if necessary). And then spent a sleepless night wondering if she'd hate it or approve.

I woke up at 5:30 that Saturday morning from the pain of a dreadful, full-frontal headache, presumably a tension-release headache like those that plagued me after finals all throughout college and graduate school. I checked my email and discovered a couple from Rose. First, and I'm totally channeling my one-time baby-sitter Sally Field here...she liked it, she really liked it! Next, she asked me to secure print-ready cover art for the article. I took a migraine pill and went back to sleep, secure in the knowledge that I hadn't fucked up my chance to prove I could write a magazine-quality feature article.

Over the next few days I gathered up all the print-ready cover art, and went through Rose's edits to clarify certain points. As always, her edits transformed my lowly draft into something terrific. Today the print version of the magazine went on sale, and those with subscriptions to PW can access it online.

The payday for the article is roughly the amount I receive for a year's worth of reviewing, and while the money itself isn't what's important, that my writing is worth it means a lot to me. It only took me fourteen years to get a gig like this; hopefully it won't be another fourteen years to get another.

Professional Milestone

Sweet Invention

Michael Krondl

Non-Fiction

Grade: B-

Michael Krondl’s Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert, takes readers on an often fascinating journey of desserts in six “dessert superpower” regions: India, the Middle East, Italy, France, Austria, and the United States. The history of food...even of the icing on the cake as opposed to the cake itself...is as terrific a way to impart knowledge as is the history of fashion. Both are surprisingly good as they give us an accessible way to track changes over time in arenas as diverse as politics, economics, religion, transportation and other technological advances, gender issues, the culture as a whole, and how societies are organized over time.

Though copiously researched, Krondl doesn’t give each of the six “superpowers” equal time, which may satisfy historians more than the casual student of history or foodie. I learned a great many tidbits about India in particular, and I’m glad now to know that they love their sweets; that because there are so many gods/goddesses and avatars, there are lots and lots of sweet-filled holidays; that sweets are more associated with boys than girls; that the lack of Western-type ovens results in lots and lots of fried sweets and none that are baked; and that the circumcision of boys does not occur at birth but rather between the ages of seven and twelve. But I wish more word count had been devoted to the particular history I crave: European and “American.” I realize this says as much about my character deficiencies as it does the book’s, but the history I did learn about the intersection of dessert and culture, gender, economics, politics, and people in Europe and the U.S. was so fascinating I simply craved more.

For instance, I already knew the American preference for milk chocolate as opposed to the French preference for darker, less sweet chocolate, but I didn’t know how Milton Hershey’s deprived childhood played into it. Or that population density...or lack thereof...along with changes in technology, the move from feudal, rural, and aristocratic cultures to urban living and the eventual growth of the middle class tied into when we ate, who prepared our savories and sweets, and for whom they were prepared. Krondl creates linkages out of changes in social economic status, democracy, even the Baby Boom, and his thought-provoking connections deserve study.

It seems obvious that if the mode of dress for an adult male is the same as it is for a 12-year-old boy (jeans, t-shirt, baseball cap), that his palette will differ from an adult male who requires a valet to dress and groom himself. It seems equally obvious that when a culture is focused on maintaining a power structure or Keeping Up with the Rothchilds, different attitudes toward food will develop in comparison to cultures simply sustaining themselves on the frontier...or those with a focus on individuality, portability, and ease of creation. These things seem obvious but only after you begin to actually consider them.

What worked less for me were all the desserts that frankly sounded quite the same to me. Yes, the actual history of the Sacher and Linzer Tortes intrigued me; I was less fascinated with the myriad descriptions of this or that fried sweet. Sometimes a donut, after all, is just a donut. Why not, instead of only focusing on how sugar is refined and how pricing affected dessert, also delve into the varieties of caramel, who invented the creme brûlée, or indeed thought to brûlée sugar?

My only other criticism is that I felt the author gave short shrift to some of the more modern history of dessert, although his insight that today’s restaurant pastry chefs are more innovative than are those at bakeries and pâtisseries was spot on. Sweet Invention wasn’t a perfect recipe for the history of dessert, but it provides ample food for thought.

Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

Withering Tights

Louise Rennison

Young Adult/Chick Lit for Teens

Grade: B

"As an avid fan of the first several Georgia Nicholson books, I jumped at the chance to read and review Withering Tights, which kicks off a new series by Louise Rennison. Although my daughter and I both outgrew the original series by the time we'd finished book five, I hoped for the best, and was not at all disappointed."

Read this Amazon Vine review in its entirety at Amazon.

Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl by Celia Rivenbark

You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl

Celia Rivenbark

Humor

Grade: B-

"If Joe Bob Briggs and Libby Gelman-Waxner had a love-child (improbable in more ways than one, not the least of which is that both were invented characters) who grew up Southern and wrote a book, she would be Celia Rivenbark and the book would be You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl. Filled with colorful, inventive and often invented prose, pop culture-infused content that remains unconcerned with political correctness, mockery of self and others, the book is breezy and easy to read fun."

Read this brief Amazon Vine review in its entirety at Amazon.

You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl by Celia Rivenbark

New at H&H: Ruth Langan's Strong Scottish Women

Online today from me at Heroes & Heartbreakers: Strong Scottish Women: Ruth Langan’s MacAlpin Sisters Trilogy. It begins:

"A close friend of mine lives in Vermont. I met her at a castle in the Berkshires while she and her family lived in New York. Many months after we became friends, the two of us discovered we have similar taste in books. Sometimes when I pass along what I consider a great discovery, she’s already discovered the author. Mostly, though, my friend is excited to discover my new discoveries. And since we are both Kindle fanatics, when I learned earlier this month that five of Ruth Langan’s Highland series were bundled on sale at Amazon for less than a ten spot, I emailed her in a flash, adding a link to a quick interview I’d done with the author back in the day that compared romances set in the Scottish Highlands to those set in the American West, and just as quickly she wrote back to say she’d read the interview and downloaded the bundle."

Click here to continue reading Strong Scottish Women: Ruth Langan’s MacAlpin Sisters Trilogy, then post a comment over at H&H.

New at H&H: Ruth Langan's Strong Scottish Women

My Favorite Authors

Back in the day I charted the authors who'd written multiple Desert Isle Keepers. I thought it might be fun to change it slightly. This new chart includes all authors with at least one DIK, and if they have [only] one DIK, they must also have two B+ reads. I may also do another chart of the next rung "down"—one DIK and [just] one B+/multiple B's (think Madeline Hunter), or authors with lots of B range grades (such as MaryJanice Davidson or Calvin Trillin), mostly at the upper end (like Anne Rivers Siddons). I'm also considering a chart of authors with the widest variation of grades, like Catherine Coulter, who has lots of DIKs, but also many D's/F's.

In the chart that follows, if you see this color, it refers to an addition over the original chart, and includes individual books, authors, and the entire "B+" column.

My Favorite Authors (if only one DIK, than also two B+s) Author DIKs B+ Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb Born in Fire Chesapeake Blue Jewels of the Sun Sea Swept Ceremony in Death Naked in Death Portrait in Death Promises in Death Rapture in Death Seduction in Death Survivor in Death Betrayal in Death Born in Ice Creation in Death Divided in Death Glory in Death Imitation in Death Inner Harbor Judgment in Death A Little Magic One Man's Art Origin in Death Playing the Odds Purity in Death The Pride of Jared McKade Reunion in Death Rising Tides Julie Garwood The Bride Castles The Gift Honor's Splendour Lion's Lady The Prize Rebellious Desire Saving Grace The Secret Gentle Warrior Catherine Coulter Calypso Magic Midsummer Magic Moonspun Magic Night Fire The Sherbrooke Bride The Courtship Anne Rice Interview with the Vampire The Queen of the Damned Taltos The Witching Hour Blackwood Farm Lasher Pandora The Vampire Lestat Anne Stuart Breathless Ice Storm A Rose at Midnight To Love a Dark Lord Black Ice Cold as Ice Kathryn Lynn Davis All We Hold Dear Somewhere Lies the Moon Too Deep for Tears Mary Alice Monroe The Beach House Sweetgrass Swimming Lessons Time Is a River Deborah Simmons The Last Rogue The Vicar's Daughter The Devil Earl The Gentleman Thief Jillian Hunter Fairy Tale Indiscretion The Seduction of an English Scoundrel Julia Quinn How To Marry a Marquis Splendid It's in His Kiss Katherine Sutcliffe Dream Fever A Fire in the Heart My Only Love Connie Brockway All Through the Night My Dearest Enemy Christina Dodd My Favorite Bride A Well-Pleasured Lady Mary Balogh A Secret Affair The Ideal Wife The Obedient Bride The Temporary Wife Ann Brasheres Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Forever in Blue Girls in Pants The Second Summer Elizabeth Lowell Too Hot to Handle Chain Lightning Only Mine Winter Fire Gail Carriger Soulless Changeless Heartless Linda Howard To Die For Drop Dead Gorgeous Duncan's Bride Johanna Lindsey Prisoner of My Desire Man of My Dreams Once a Princess Christopher Moore A Dirty Job Bloodsucking Fiends Lamb

Whaddya think?

BTW, Goodreads and my tags at Goodreads made this an easy task as I have a tag for Desert Isle Keepers, and separate my B+'s from other B's by star (4=B+, 3=B/B-)

My Favorite Authors

Fresh Meat: Janet Mullany's Tell Me More

Online from me today at Heroes & Heartbreakers

Fresh Meat: Janet Mullany's Tell Me More (excerpted below)

***

Knowing there's a difference between fantasy and reality is one thing, but having reality shoved in your face, even in a fictional setting, is something else entirely. Janet Mullany's Tell Me More is hilarious at moments because Jo Hutchinson is brutally honest, about herself and the people and situations around her. Unfortunately, that honesty, and the absolute explicitness of the author's prose result in a schizophrenic kind of read. The book went from LOL funny in one moment to squickishness in the next.

Please click here to read my new Fresh Meat in full. Feel free to Tell Me More over at H&H once you've read it.

Fresh Meat: Janet Mullany's Tell Me More

Fresh Meat: Carolyn Jewel's My Dangerous Pleasure

Online from me today at Heroes & Heartbreakers

Fresh Meat: Carolyn Jewel's My Dangerous Pleasure (excerpted below)

Cupcake, anyone?

* * *

What stands out most after reading My Dangerous Pleasure, fourth in Carolyn Jewel's Immortal series, is this: The hero, while totally the alpha male you'd expect a demon to be, is also incredibly sweet to the heroine, a human with latent magic being threatened by a mage.

The typical urban fantasy/urban fantasy romance hero is usually pretty slutty, with a bad-ass attitude to match. He's generally pulled into helping/saving/working with the heroine, often begrudgingly, and...yada, yada, you know the drill. Iskander, Jewel's hero, fulfills the slutty part of the equation, but even though he never planned any sort of involvement with Paisley Nichols, he brings no pissed off, sullen, or I'm-the-boss-of-you attitude into their relationship...

Please click here to read my new Fresh Meat in full. Would love for you to add a comment.

Fresh Meat: Carolyn Jewel's My Dangerous Pleasure

Reading Series in Order (Or Not) at H&H

My newest piece for the Heroes and Heartbreakers blog went online an hour ago. I actually didn't know it was going to appear at all until I checked my twitter feed. What a nice Cinco de Mayo day surprise, and how exciting to see two comments already!

The article is all about reading series in order...when it's important, when it's less so, and what to do when you can't start at the start. I hope you'll swing by, read it, then talk about your own experience by adding to the comments.

Reading Series in Order (Or Not) at H&H

New Fresh Meat at H&H: Anna Campbell's Midnight's Wild Passion

My newest Fresh Meat for Heroes and Heartbreakers just went online. In it I talk about Anna Campbell's new historical romance, Midnight's Wild Passion. Please drop by and check it out, then post a comment over there. As for me, I'm settling into my newest book, with an idea (with a little help from Megan) on my next article...

New Fresh Meat at H&H: Anna Campbell's Midnight's Wild Passion

New at H&H: Fresh Meat: Rachel Gibson's Any Man of Mine

Fresh Meat: Rachel Gibson's Any Man of Mine

Wow, what a week! In the last seven days I've read and written about four books: one was literary fiction, another Steampunk, a third contemporary romance, and the fourth a European Historical romance. I have a reprieve for a few days as my next PW review isn't due until Monday of next week. I've got so many books that I'm dying to get to just for the fun of it that I don't know quite where to begin. Whatever I choose will wait until tomorrow as I need a break for the rest of today.

The online result of a portion of that reading and writing just started, with my new blogging at Heroes and Heartbreakers. Drop by and give it a read, then post a comment over there.

Look for another "Fresh Meat" from me, perhaps as early as tomorrow. I'll let you know.

New at H&H: Fresh Meat: Rachel Gibson's Any Man of Mine

New "You Are What You Like to Read" at H&H

You Are What You Like to Read: A Book-Selling Savant’s Recs, Pt. 2

Yesterday at Heroes and Heartbreakers, part one of Recommendations from a Book-Selling Savant went online. Just a few minutes ago part two was posted. Drop by and check it out, and if you can, post a comment. As for me, it's now day three of Whatever It Is That Ails Me.

New "You Are What You Like to Read" at H&H

Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

Blood, Bones, and Butter

Gabrielle Hamilton

Memoir

Grade: C+

Ever since I saw the first "wow, this is great!" review of Gabrielle Hamilton's Blood, Bones, and Butter, I knew I had to read it. When Amazon offered it through their Vine program, I requested a copy. As advertised, the author's voice is clear, strong, and very descriptive; it's not surprising to learn she earned a master's degree in writing. When she describes the "pig-urine stench of panchetta," I sat back, thought about it, and realized she was absolutely...incredibly...right on the nose. The book's structure, though, didn't work as well as the prose itself. I would have preferred seeing her in my mind's eye as an adult first, and a chef, before reading about her very unusual upbringing. Context is necessary on both ends, and without the later context, her background seemed all the more foreign.

Read this Amazon Vine review in its entirety at Amazon.

Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

Stone Kissed by Keri Stevens

Stone Kissed

Keri Stevens

Grade: D

The story's blurb:

When Delia Forrest talks to statues, they talk back. She is, after all, the last of the Steward witches.

After an arsonist torches her ancestral home with her estranged father still inside, Delia is forced to sell the estate to pay his medical bills. Her childhood crush, Grant Wolverton, makes a handsome offer for Steward House, vowing to return it to its former glory. Delia agrees, as long as he’ll allow her to oversee the restoration.

Working so closely with Grant, Delia finds it difficult to hide her unique talent—especially when their growing passion fuels her abilities.

But someone else lusts after both her man and the raw power contained in the Steward land. Soon, Delia finds herself fighting not just for Grant’s love, but for both their lives...

The blurb for Stevens' debut appealed to me, partly because I've long been a fan of the ancient Greek Pygmalian myth. Again, though - and I feel rather like a broken record for trotting this complaint out so very often - the story's execution did not come close to meeting its promise. Why? I just couldn't get behind the idea of a man loving a woman he believes is either a thief or delusional. Frankly, it was easier to get past the idea of his loving a thief because I've read and enjoyed romances with sticky-fingered heroines. But falling in love with a nut and believing that by living in an isolated part of Virginia and maintaining a low profile, he can keep her craziness contained, seemed delusional to me. Add to that the idea that he'll have children with her and I was thoroughly creeped out. One does not perpetuate the genetics of mental illness, particularly when it occurs on both sides of the family tree. So, ew.

And that's not all...the author tells us Grant and Delia are in love, but outside of an intense physical response to one another, she doesn't show it, or prove it. Again, the falling in love with a nut-job impinges upon this, but not only from Grant's side. Delia spends the vast majority of the story angry with Grant - because he's single-minded in taking her legacy away from her and because he is high-handed - and sad because he doesn't believe that she can communicate with statues. They are on a most uneven footing because of many things - money, status, but mostly power. The author tries to even things out by ceding emotional control of the relationship to Delia, but she's too insecure about herself for this to work.

As far as the villainous sub-plot, I actually liked it, both for the graphic depiction of violence, and the over-the-top evil. Stevens demonstrates a strong ability to write this sort of material, which at moments reminded me of Anne Rice in Queen of the Damned and Pandora, which is high praise indeed. And as a result, rather than earning an F, the story instead earns a D.

Stone Kissed will be published late in the month; I read an advance copy provided by the publisher.

Stone Kissed by Keri Stevens

Torn by K.D. King

Torn

K.D. King

Grade: C

The story's blurb:

Anaria Okam breathes war. She lives for vengeance. Wekari, an enemy planet, took the most precious thing from her –her mother. Though her mother lives in body, she is broken in spirit. Since the time Anaria could understand words, her father, ruler of the planet Loden, instilled in her the need to seek vengeance and destroy Wekari.

While trading goods on the neutral planet of Atlzo she spots the enemy, Marshall Kalil Umba, leader of the Wekarian armies. Seizing an opportunity, she follows him. As she gets close to him, her body lights with need. Then the embers of desire cause her whole body to glow.

Kalil, of the space ship Destruction has finally found his mate. He realizes she is a warrior from the enemy planet of Loden. He captures her. Now he must make her trust him, love him, and leave everything she has ever known.

The premise of K.D. King's SF/Erotic short story, Torn, intrigued me: High-born enemies of an intergalactic war glow in each other's presence, indicating they are mates. The hero captures the heroine, intent on forging her trust and her love, particularly after he brings her to his home planet so that she may learn the truth about the feud.

If only the execution worked as well as that thumbnail sketch. Unfortunately, the author fails to connect the story's preface with the rest of the story. While I picked up the author's clues and realized that what the heroine believed about her life and family was predicated on a lie, I remained unable to connect the dots between the preface and the lie, and as a result, was as shocked as the heroine was, later on, when reality was revealed. My guess is that the author intended otherwise, but a lack of precision in her writing resulted in an unintended, unwanted result.

The romance between hero and heroine worked far better, particularly toward the end when the trust issue turned on its head, but there was nothing memorable about the story's erotic component. On balance, then, I'm not at all torn about Torn, an average read at best.

Torn was published earlier this month by Red Sage.I read a digital copy provided by the publisher, but it does not appear to be available for Kindle at Amazon.

Torn by K.D. King

Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom Holt

Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Sausages

Tom Holt

Grade: C+

When I saw the following snippet for Tom Holt's Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages on NetGalley last month, I requested a copy for my Kindle:

Polly is a real estate solicitor. She is also losing her mind. Someone keeps drinking her coffee. And talking to her clients. And doing her job. And when she goes to the dry cleaner's to pick up her dress for the party, it's not there. Not the dress - the dry cleaner's.

And then there are the chickens who think they are people. Something strange is definitely going on - and it's going to take more than a magical ring to sort it out.

From one of the funniest voices in comic fiction today comes a hilarious tale of pigs and parallel worlds.

I read it over the weekend, and while at times I flashed to Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, Christopher Moore's Fluke, and the claymation movie Chicken Run - all of which allowed me as an adult to re-experience sheer child-like wonderment - at other times I got lost in a book that featured one too many sub-threads and one moment in the narrative for which there was no logical rationale. Even absurdist fiction, after all, follows a logic of its own, and because Holt otherwise adhered to his own warped premise so well, the one time he failed to do so stuck out like a sore thumb.

Because so many sub-threads make up Holt's book - and because it won't be released until February, 2011 - I don't feel comfortable revealing much about the plot. Polly, a lawyer, believes she must be losing her mind; somebody's drinking her coffee, taking care of items in her files, and then her dry cleaner disappears as though it never existed. She seeks advice from her jingle-creating brother, who deduces, using thoroughly modern means, that magic exists in the world after he wishes his upstairs neighbor away. He and his sister try to make sense of a world gone run more and more amok, discovering along the way an entire "underground" economy devoted to fixing this sort of craziness.

How it all relates to the sow who went out into the world determined to discover the fate of her twelve piglets is something that is revealed only after the introduction of a series of anomalies and strange characters. Because unlike Juster's classic this is a story for adults and not children, readers will need to stay on top of their game throughout the read. Even if they do, though, they may conclude that Holt spun out his story slightly too far, with one too many sub-threads, and with one plot point involving a phantom train that doesn't track back logically (no pun intended).

Holt deserves major kudos for his imagination and often lively story-telling, but I believe his cleverness got the best of him more than once. As a result, the sum of the book's strongest parts do not add up to as strong a whole, which disappointed me. I'm fairly certain others will enjoy Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Sausages more than I did, but I'd recommend Fluke (or any number of other Christopher Moore novels)...or The Phantom Tollbooth before recommending this one.

Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Sausages will be published in February; I read an advance copy provided by the publisher.

Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom Holt

365 Thank Yous by John Kralik

365 Thank Yous

John Kralik

Grade: C/C+

While John Kralik hadn't fallen as low as Michael Gates Gill, author of How Starbucks Saved My Life, and is fifteen years younger, both men hit rock bottom in their personal and professional lives when they took unusual actions to save themselves. Gill learned, through menial work once thought beneath him, among people he would otherwise never have met, how to regain his self-worth and get by, happily, with far less than he'd grown accustomed. John Kralik, who years earlier had quit his high-end law partnership to go the noble, Jerry Maguire route, discovered doing the right thing doesn't always end well.

Read this Amazon Vine review in its entirety at Amazon.

365 Thank Yous by John Kralik

Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

Not That Kind of Girl

Siobhan Vivian

Grade: B-

To be honest, nearly two weeks after finishing Not that Kind of Girl, I can't honestly say I "liked" it. What I can say is that the lead character's drive, focus, and need for control affected me on a deep, personal level, and for that reason alone I recommend it.

Read this Amazon Vine review in its entirety at Amazon.

Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

Ain't Misbehaving by Jennifer Greene

Ain't Misbehaving

Jennifer Greene

Grade: C+

When a book by Jennifer Greene showed up in the netgalley.com database for Carina Press, I was surprised; why would a highly established author be writing new material for the digital-only imprint of Harlequin? Because I've enjoyed her in the past - and will never forget that she wrote a Desert Isle Keeper review for me at All About Romance of the classic novel Mrs. Mike - I requested a copy. After downloading it to my Kindle and opening it, however, I realized it was not a new book. Instead it was a book written by Greene as Jeanne Grant, originally published in 1985 by Berkley books. According to an author's letter prefacing the book, Carina Press will be reissuing two of her Jeanne Grant books each month for several months, just about as originally published, albeit without "a few outdated phrases and references." I think Greene's Carina Press editors succeeded in that area, although a reference to a " $500 Savile Row suit" stuck out like a sore thumb.

Both Mitch Cochran and Kay Sanders volunteer in the children's ward of a hospital in small-town Idaho. Each volunteers as payback for previous long-term medical care - her on behalf of her sister, a long-time Crohn's sufferer and him after an infection at age 15 weakened his heart and eventually resulted in multiple valve surgeries that caused him to miss out on much of what young men experience as they mature, including sex. As soon as I read between those lines, I hopped over to AAR's Virginal Heroes list and, sure enough, Mitch Cochran is listed.

Mitch and Kay share a strong attraction, but he worries that his lack of experience will be a problem for a woman who teaches sex-ed, has been engaged twice, and counts as close friends many men. Kay can't quite understand why Mitch runs so hot and cold...he'll kiss her like she's the best thing he ever tasted, but the next moment he'll pull back and disappear. Even when they become close enough that he introduces her to his parents, he won't reveal his secrets, nor will he take things to the next level. She eventually resorts to subterfuge, and once he catches on to her, they become fully intimate. Each professes their love, and that's where the trouble begins.

Kay becomes convinced that, like some of her girlish high school students, Mitch mistakes sex with love while he concludes that he must not measure up to her previous lovers. Although a five-minute conversation might have resolved their issues, this is a romance novel from the 1980s, after all, and these two otherwise mature adults revert to adolescence in how they deal with each other. Because this is a romance novel, though, I don't have to tell you how it all ends up.

I've enjoyed the author over the years, although the rather idiosyncratic writing stye she developed since the 1980s barely registers here. My guess is that Ain't Misbehaving became a fan favorite at the time of its release mostly for the virgin hero angle, which continues to be a draw for readers to this day...hence the fact that we developed a list for them at AAR way back in 1997. If that intrigues you, or if you want to flesh out your backlist for the author - and I'm glad that's becoming easier to do now that e-books are the only growth market in pubilshing - check it out, but if you'd like to try Jennifer Greene, I'd recommend starting instead with Rock Solid, Wild in the Field, or Wild in the Moment. I enjoyed this trip down memory lane with Jennifer Greene, who always writes engagingly and with panache, but didn't find this particularly memorable aside from the obvious.

Ain't Misbehaving will be published on November 15th; I read an advance copy provided by the publisher.

Ain't Misbehaving by Jennifer Greene

Whisper Falls by Toni Blake

Whisper Falls

Toni Blake

Grade: C

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Toni Blake's Whisper Falls. Both lead characters are nicely developed and each has a personal issue they work to overcome during the course of the story. That said, though, the book did nothing for me; I never felt the immense chemistry Tessa Sheridan shared with Lucky Romo, and as a result, labored to finish the book because of my commitment to review it.

Tessa Sheridan returned to small-town Destiny, Ohio after her newly-diagnosed Crohn's disease disrupted her interior design career. She bought a cabin and works part-time at the local bookstore while trying to start a small design business. Her first client is neighbor Lucky Romo, also recently returned to Destiny. He left after high school, got involved in an outlaw biker gang, and a decade after extricating himself from it, determines to make a real life for himself and be a father to the son he never knew he had. In the back of his mind, though, he worries that the leader of his old gang might seek him out and hurt him or those he loves because the crazy criminal holds a grudge. That's just one reason he hasn't sought out his parents or brother. The other is that they're part of the reason he left in the first place - after the death of his sister, he'd become the family's forgotten child.

At first Lucky intimidates Tessa; his reputation precedes him, and all those tattoos don't help. But Tessa yearns to rejoin the land of the living and stop being fearful; her motto might as well be "Just keep swimming," the line Ellen DeGeneris' character Dory is known for in Finding Nemo. Part of feeling alive includes feeling like a woman and being sexual, and though she knows Lucky is attracted to her, his staying away from her for her own good doesn't cut it for long. She asks her close friend Rachel, who's engaged to his brother Mike, to accompany her to a local dive owned by Lucky's friend and former biker gang compadre, and just as it appears she's convinced him to have his way with her, Mike arrives on the scene. Their family reunion goes badly, but later that night Lucky and Tessa finally become intimate.

Tessa plays a major role in his reunion with his parents, although Mike isn't buying what Lucky's selling until Rachel convinces him to listen to his little brother and hear what he has to say. Meanwhile, Lucky begins a relationship with his son, including Tessa as his girlfriend. Each remains tentative about sharing the bad along with the good, yet both profess their love and their relationship develops believably. But Lucky fears an annoying man from his past might mean trouble for his future. He's no longer the man he once was, yet when faced with danger, will he revert to form, and if he does, will "good girl" Tessa understand?

Nothing egregious about the storyline, right? Right. Toni Blake's journeyman effort fails in no particular way, although too-frequent musical references annoyed me for some reason. The author writes competently, but to use a musical reference of my own, "I felt nothing" while reading her book. It's not as though Tessa and Lucky are stereotypes, or that she doesn't create romantic moments for them - or that she tells rather than shows their love and their attraction. Even so, I never felt a connection to either of them, and nothing in the story surprised me as it unfolded. I keep turning pages in some books because I can't wait to see what happens next; in this instance I kept [virtually] turning them hoping something would happen out of the ordinary. But nothing did...and I felt nothing.

Whisper Falls won't be released until December; I read an advance copy provided by the publisher.

Whisper Falls by Toni Blake