Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

The Science of Kissing by Sheril Kirshenbaum - A Guest Review by CarrieS

I was inspired to read and review this book by two things: my local library's science book display (Yay, libraries!) and Sarah's articles on the myths about biology and anatomy that often appear in romance.  I thought readers of those threads might enjoy The Science of Kissing (henceforth known as TSoK) based on my first impression of it as a light and entertaining science read.  As it turns out, this was a hard book to grade because as a science book it was disappointingly slight - and I say that as someone who's prefers to have science offered up to me in small portions with easy words.  On the other hand, the historical content was fascinating and it was a really charming book overall.  

I'll let the author speak for herself as to what the book is about and why she wrote it:

"A kiss is one of the most significant exchanges two people can have, serving as an unspoken language to convey our deepest feelings when words simply will not do.  From a symbol of… read more »

Beauty and the Duke by Melody Thomas, a Guest Review by RedHeadedGirl

I got this as a recommendation from…. Aw, hell, there isn’t a name attached to the rec, but Sarah sent in on because “it’s fun when your head explodes!”

So there’s a couple things you should know: first, like many people, I went through a dinosaur phase in my misspent youth, so there’s that.  Not a big enough of phase to want to become a paleontologist, but still, very interesting and whatnot.  There are pictures of dinosaur poo on my twitter feed from my Christmas visit to the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Second, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie.  Ever.  I know there are people who think it’s an example of Stockholm Syndrome and that it encourages the idea that women can change men, which I think is a simplistic reading of the text and we could get into it, but the core lesson, I think, is that if you want to be treated like a person, you have to act like a person.  And sometimes it’s someone… read more »

DocTurtle: The Iron Duke, Ch. 1-2

DocTurtle has returned with Chapters 1 and 2 of The Iron Duke. Want to read along for future chapters? You can get a copy at Goodreads,  Amazon, BN, Sony, or Kobo.

Chapter 1: Cool Britannia!

This book begins with a bang…particularly if by “bang” we mean a hand grenade filled with tiny bits of exposition. There’s a lot of ground to cover in seventeen pages, but Meljean Brook runs the route with a solid pace, and she takes time to set the mood while she’s at it. I’m enjoying the book so far.

Where are we? It’s London, at some unspecified steam-powered time in the speculative past. Coal-fueled cars compete with spidery rickshaws in the city streets, airships make regular rounds between Britain and the Continent, and nanotech-enhanced buggers compete with the recently-returned-from-the-New-World bounders for a slice of the smog-covered pie. It doesn’t get much cooler than this gadget-filled steampunky London that never was. (I promise to never again write a sentence with… read more »

Chain Reaction by Zoe Archer, a Guest Review by CarrieS

(With Bonus Mini-review of: The Clockwork Girl.)

I reviewed Archer's first science fiction ebook, Collision Course, about 8th Wing and their fight against PRAXIS and I loved it.  A special thanks to all the commentators who pointed out that in real life PRAXIS can stand for a type of standardized test.  I still love the series but now every time the word comes up all I can think of is number two pencils. 

Anyway, I had high expectations for Chain Reaction and those expectations were met and exceeded. Wonderful characters, a geek hero (SWOON!!!!), great dialogue both serious and funny, and a refreshing amount of realism considering the setting.  After a sequence of ebooks in which protagonists were practically knocked senseless by their first encounter with the godliness of the other, it was lovely to see a more realistic but still passionate description of attraction and deepening emotional romance.

The Return of DocTurtle!

Awhile back, in 2009, DocTurtle, a professor of mathematics, was a guest reviewer here as we schooled him on the best of romance. You can see the complete DocTurtle archive to see his serial reviews of An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer, Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, and Sex Straight Up by Kathleen O'Riley. He didn't finish Dark Lover by JR Ward, but he gave it his best effort. Something about "tenure" and a "packet." And things that were due. 

Every now and again, DocTurtle and I would exchange an email, but he was buried with work and reviewing was put on hiatus - until I received an email from him a few weeks ago, and he agreed to read and review another novel - though he did ask for not Dark Lover.

So here's DocTurtle, for those of you who haven't met him yet: 

Unraveled by Courtney Milan, a Guest Review by RedHeadedGirl

You guys know that I’m in my last year of law school (ABOUT FUCKING TIME) and it’s finals coming up and I SHOULD be writing a paper, but Sarah knows very well that I usually do reviews when I’m avoiding writing.  Or studying.  Or doing anything I really should be doing.  SO HERE I AM and I’m also a little (a lot) unhinged (which totally should be the title of Courtney’s next book).

      Anyway, so I got an advance copy of Unraveled in a giveaway during the Sizzling Not Summer Book Club chat and there was pressure for a review and here we are because Smite is AWESOME and I LOVE HIM and Miranda is FANTASTIC and also I really don’t want to write this stupid paper.  SO HERE WE GO.

      (Told you.  Unhinged.)

All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis, A Guest Review by CarrieS

There are only three kinds of people.  There are those who think Connie Willis is a genius (that would be me).  There are those who can't figure out what all the fuss is about and think she's over-rated (bah!).  Finally, there are those people who haven't read her yet.  If you are in the third group, go read her right away!  Christmas is a great time to start, because she is widely beloved for her Christmas stories, one of which perfectly fits my geek profile as it involves aliens and romance.  If you feel something has been missing from your holiday experience, allow me to suggest that probably in the deep places of your soul you've been sensing a certain lack of aliens at the mall.  That is why I suggest you try Willis's novella, All Seated on the Ground.

Captured by Beverly Jenkins: A Guest Review by RedHeadedGirl

I first noticed this book in Borders when I was working there as a bookseller (I miss my Borders, and I really miss my fellow employees.  We have a standing date at our local pub on the 14th of every month so we don’t lose touch with each other and our facebook group is in honor of our favorite manager).  It was shelved in African-American Fiction, but wouldn’t have been out of place in the regular Romance section, and I did have this thought process about where it should really go- but that wasn’t my call to make.  The sticker said African-American fiction, in African American Fiction it went.

Anyway, I saw this book, and was vaguely intrigued, but it was during an impoverished spell, so I couldn’t get it, and then I forgot about it because my head was full of other things, and then the pirate book discussion in November happened, and someone mentioned it, and a lightbulb went off so I went and downloaded the sample.

And was… read more »

Maharaja’s Mistress by Susan Stephens: A Dueling Review

I received an email from reader Maria, who told me about this book and said it was UNREAL in its bizarre badness. So of course I forwarded her description to RedHeadedGirl, who replied, and I quote, “WHAT IS THIS FUCKERY I NEED TO READ IT”.

Seriously, you guys. The official book description does NOT even TOUCH the crazysauce that floods this book. This is what it says:

Monte Carlo is abuzz with news that Ram Varindha—young, hot and royal—is without a co-driver for the biggest rally event of the year. Though it’s been years since she last saw him, Mia leaps at the chance to get up close with the maharaja!

With time to spare before he takes on more serious royal duties, bedding this beauty is top of Ram’s list. But Mia has long known Ram’s reputation. Is she just in for the hottest few nights of her life, or could her dream of finally taming Ram’s playboy ways become reality?

Maria’s description reveals much more, and is in all frank honesty ENTIRELY ACCURATE:

Majaraja’s Mistress features a… read more »

Hero by Perry Moore, A Guest Review by CarrieS

Y’all know I can’t resist a geek/romance crossover, so I had to check out Hero, a YA novel about a gay teen superhero that involves a love story.  It was solidly written, painful, and touching, and although I haven’t the foggiest idea of what it’s like to be a gay teen it had the feel of honesty to it.  However, it wasn’t very much fun.  That’s not surprising, because it deals with some very painful topics.  Not every love story or superhero story has to be fun.  Personally, though, I want my romance to have some joy, and I want even my darkest superheroes to get at least a few moments to revel in their powers (or, in Batman’s case, their “wonderful toys”).  I can’t fault the craft or content of Hero, but I found it strangely easy to put down. 

Here’s the deal.  Thom (Thom?  Really?  Is anyone named Thom?  Commentators, please advise!) is a high school basketball player who volunteers with underprivileged kids in his spare time.  His… read more »

Impostress by Lisa Jackson: A Guest Review by RedHeadedGirl

This was a HABO that Laura asked about back last spring, and I ordered it back then and didn’t even open the package until this week.

(This semester is even crazier than last spring, I’m doing an internship that’s 15-20 hours a week, plus 4 other classes and it’s kind of insane.)

Okay.  So.  This is full of whatthefuckery.  Really.  With a side dish of anachronism stew.  (I’m also writing this while watching the pilot of Ringer which involves a twin-switch scenario, and it’s actually pretty good.  If you like film noir-y drama, give it a shot.)

So our story begins in Wales in 12-something or other, with Kiera, our heroine, out for a ride on daddy’s prize stallion (who, like all prize stallions, is a giant black horse). She’s disguised herself as a stableboy to avoid trouble, but naturally the black stallion is a lot of horse and dumps her, basically into the arms of a ruffian who makes like you expect ruffians to act when a woman who is disguised as a boy lands in his arms- not honorably.  Kiera’s older sister Elyn happens to be out running… read more »

Sparks in Cosmic Dust by Robert Appleton: A Guest Review by CarrieS

Boy, I gotta hand it to Carina Press.  I’ve only read three of their eBooks (on my laptop, because I have no e-reader or smart phone, insert tears of self-pity here).  None of the three was what I would call a classic work of literature that will be treasured through the ages, but DAMN have they been fun!  Alas, while this stared off as super fun, it fell completely apart near the end.  Still, points to Appleton for creating a great sense of place(s) and a loving tribute to the pulp science fiction magazines and gritty westerns of the past.

Sparks in Cosmic Dust is listed as science fiction, not science fiction romance, and I can see why, as it is primarily an adventure story and a science-fiction /Western blend.  However, it does have a huge romance focus so I’d say it qualifies as a romance novel.  The strength of Sparks is that it understands its lineage and is here to give us an old-fashioned, B-movie, dimestore pulp novel good time.  The acknowledgement page discusses the author’s fond debt to the film “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, which inspires the… read more »

Heart’s Aflame by Johanna Lindsey: A Guest Review from Betty Fokker

Hearts Aflame, the current Avon .99c digital offering offering, inspired Betty Fokker to read and review this romance classic.

Boy oh boy, does this book bring back the memories. I was a devoted reader of Johanna Lindsey in the 80’s, but I hadn’t read any of her books for years, so when I saw this book on sale for $.99 I suffered a fit of nostalgia and uploaded that sucker to my kindle. Here’s the plot:

Kristen Haardrad was looking for one last adventure with her brother Selig. However, nothing prepared her for the fact that they are going Viking. As soon as they landed, they were attacked then captured. Saddened by the death of her brother, Kristen disguised as a boy to avoid rape. However, when Lord Royce entered the scene. It was love at first sight, or at least for her. She couldn’t help the mixed feelings that she had for him. She longed to escape this land of strangers, yet her feelings for Royce held her back from her freedom. Lord Royce of Wyndhurst was attracted to the Viking beauty. However, his memories of the past held him back… read more »

The Lion’s Lady by Julie Garwood: A Guest Review by RedHeadedGirl

Okay, so, this is a classic, right?  I hadn’t read it before.

I KNOW.

I snagged it from a free book pile AGES ago, thinking it was another book I had read back in my misspent youth, but figured out pretty quite that this was NOT The Black Lion by Jude Devereaux, given that we started out in the Black Hills, not in Medieval England.

You can’t put anything past me.

Okay, so this book.  THIS BOOK. 

This is everything I adore about the historical genre.  It’s SO ridonkulous.  Irritatingly perfect heroine?  Damaged, brooding hero?  A whole mess of plot involving a will, possibly crazy people, an evil king (or whatever) and, just for fun, Native Americans?

Making Waves by Tawna Fenske

I received the following guest review submission from Betty Fokker while I was working on my own review for the book. So I’ve included both here for your reading pleasure. No, no, don’t thank me. It’s that Fokker’s fault.

Making Waves is about a surly, pissed off guy named Alex who is screwed over by the company he’s worked at for years. Those pensions-worth-nothing, sorry-you’re-broke, nothing to show for decades of labor stories? He’s one of those, along with his crew of former coworkers who (a) also got screwed over and (b) know, much like Alex, that the big boss who made off like a bandit is up to international levels of no good. They decide to become pirates and intercept a shipment of nefarious but very valuable goods in order to take back what was taken from them - their financial security as they all get older.

Enter Juli, who is trying to charter a boat and cast her uncle’s ashes into the ocean, as per his last request. Alex and Juli meet at a bar one night, and zippy, funny attraction sparks fly as they pretend… read more »