Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Heart
October 09, 2010 | Saturday | 126 Comments
Question for you: which do you think are the most memorable scenes from a romance novel wherein the hero or heroine (or both!) reveal how they feel about one another? Which scenes do you adore wherein the hero or heroine confesses how they feel - or asks openly for the other person to be with them? I remember being breathless when I first read the final scene between Jason and Victoria in Judith McNaught’s Once and Always, where he thinks she’s dead and doesn’t quite believe she’s in the room with him. Seeing his misery and what it reveals about…
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September 15, 2010 | Wednesday | 9 Comments
I have a feeling this might be two books compressed into one memory, but I’ll ask you, who knows more than I do. From OldTimer: My sis-in-law, who lives in Europe, occasionally bugs me to locate a book she read years ago. The current search is driving me dinky-dow; she has lots of info, and no one responds. I just stumbled upon Smart Bitches and felt a surge of optimism—you are for sure the experts in this area. So let me give you what I got from her: Two cousins are sailing to America from England so the richer one…
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June 20, 2009 | Saturday | 5 Comments
First, thanks to Barb Ferrer: People Magazine’s hottest bachelors issue is out, and Ferrer reports that “one of the mini-features is bachelors dressed up and recreating traditional romance novel covers.” Judging from Brody Jenner’s picture, they’ve got it 40% correct. Mullet? No! Shirt open and still tucked in? Yes, but on technicality- the shirt is unlaced. Sword of dubious significance? NO! And the wind appears to be emerging from only one direction. Her dress is damn good though. I think that’s the same gown from the cover of The Luxe. Kiplinger.com has a list of 10 Quirky Econimic Indicators that…
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June 12, 2009 | Friday | 26 Comments
I stayed up until way past my bedtime finishing this book, and even now I’m still pondering it, while also kicking myself for not having read it earlier. This book, in a word, is exquisite. Regina Berryman finds herself in a terrible position: she’s penniless, innocent, and unprotected after the deaths of everyone in her family who might have provided for her without somewhat nefarious motivation. Moreover, due to her upbringing with a somewhat cloud-headed feather and a secretively bluestocking radical governess, Regina has the intellectual curiosity and conversational ability of a man. Yet instead of being tiresome - Oh!…
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May 30, 2009 | Saturday | 131 Comments
ETA 31 May 2009 10EST: Harlequin’s blog has been sending folks over to see the review and the swag contest, so to give those folks a chance, I’m re-opening the contest for another 24 hours. This time, there will be TWO bags, so two winners will take home a big bucket o’swag. Ready set go! This afternoon I went to the press premiere of the Harlequin cover art gallery display, better known as “The Heart of a Woman: Harlequin Cover Art 1949 - 2009. The show opens tonight and runs through 12 June, and is open for folks to see…
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May 11, 2009 | Monday | 10 Comments
If you missed Not Quite a Husband: The Renaming Extravaganza, have a look at the entries, because they are hilarious. Sherry Thomas had a hell of a time judging but she did the deed. Winner 1: I totally didn’t expect so many entries renaming NOT QUITE A HUSBAND, since people haven’t read it and since I—rather vainly—thought ESCAPE FROM SWAT VALLEY was as good as it gets. But I was proved totally wrong. “The Englishman Who Went into a Valley, and Came Out a Husband” by Cathy is dead-on accurate. Sarah W’s “The Pashtun Passion Uprising” had me choking with…
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April 01, 2009 | Wednesday | 5 Comments
My neighbors over in Chatham, NJ, Fictionwise, have some ebook madness for he Stanza crowd. From the Stanza newsletter: EVERY eBook at Stanza for Fictionwise now sports 45% REWARDS. After that, our accountant’s meds wear off and he will force us to shut down this sale. Build your eReader library today! Learn more about eReader Rewards online at stanza.fictionwise.com. Plus, Stanza is offering four free titles: Persuader(Book 7 of the Jack Reacher series) by Lee Child, Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult, Circle of Love by Linda Swift, and Glad Tidings by Debbie Macomber. Offer good through tomorrow, 1 April…
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March 25, 2009 | Wednesday | 1 Comments
The RITA and Golden Heart phone calls start today. Like last year, Judi Fennell is keeping track of the news, as are other sites, so head on over if you’re curious.
And if you received a phone call today from RWA, congrats and good on ya!
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February 13, 2009 | Friday | 11 Comments
First, Neil Gaiman reading The Graveyard Book, one chapter at each stop of his book took last fall.
You can, as Miri did, lose an entire day listening, but what good listening it is.
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January 29, 2009 | Thursday | 22 Comments
Today’s advice letter is all about taking the risk with a person for the second time after the first time didn’t work out. Dear Sarah: I love that you have an advice column called “Everything I need to know I learned from Romance Novels.” I haven’t noticed any topics on relationships (although maybe I just missed those emails) so I thought this was a great opportunity for you (to be well rounded advisors capable of dishing on any topic) and me (although mostly me, because you could probably do without complicated questions from confused women). I recently reconnected with my…
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January 08, 2009 | Thursday | 23 Comments
Time for another advice question, solved with the power of Lurrrve™ and the wisdom of Ye Olde Romance Novels. Dear SB Sarah: I need advice. I am a 32 year old professional woman. I have never been married, have no kids, and have had 3-4 seriously significant relationships in my life. The problem is this - every one of my exes have contacted me this past year. Starting with the Very First Real Boyfriend and ending with last year’s therapy sessions. In the space of six months every man I have ever told I loved (there have been 3 of…
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January 07, 2009 | Wednesday | 17 Comments
I’m a fangirl of Julie Cohen’s writing, particularly because she can blend sharp, smart, witty writing with characters who contain emotional depth and a unique perspective on UK-set contemporary romance. Cohen is funny, intelligent, and vivid in her stories, and I love reading them. But while I loved the hero and the setting of this book, the heroine and the mystery in the plot left me wanting more. Sophie Tennant is a private investigator who specializes in honey traps. She’s hired by women who suspect their husbands or boyfriends are cheating. Sophie then lures them into situations wherein she records…
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December 31, 2008 | Wednesday | 26 Comments
What a perfect way to end the year: DocTurtle finishes another review. Part 5: Chapters 20 through 26 All things must come to an end, and so it is with Heyer’s tale of Waterloo. After several truly engaging chapters, we come down from the mountaintop and finish out with a series of chapters focusing on the battle itself. Eighty-eight straight pages of blow-by-blow on the battlefield! Ouch. I wouldn’t mind a few highlights, but I’ll be damned if Heyer doesn’t tell us of every last little manoeuvre either side makes. I’ll go light on the details below. Ready? Here we…
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December 01, 2008 | Monday | 21 Comments
Here’s the final episode of DocTurtle’s snarking of a contemporary category romance novel: a mathematician reads Kathleen O’Reilly’s Sex, Straight Up! Almost there, folks. It’s been a few weeks since I last snarked on this book, and even longer than that since I read the chapters I’m supposed to be snarking, so I’m finding myself re-reading the book trying to recapture my feel for it. As I admitted in my last post, I finished reading the book in one sitting one morning before heading off to class. Although it would be a stretch to call the book’s ending thrilling, I…
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November 25, 2008 | Tuesday | 118 Comments
Once upon a time, there was a book. Well, sort of. There was a book in a movie. Sex & The City was the movie in question and the book that wasn’t a book was used as a prop by Carrie, when she read aloud from Love Letters of Great Men. Seems moviegoers went hunting for the book in bookstores, but there was no such thing. Not because great men didn’t write love letters, but because the book wasn’t real. But it is now. From Napoleon to Darwin to Beethoven, the passionate missives of some fascinating historical figures are now…
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