Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Jill Shalvis
October 06, 2011 | Thursday | 8 Comments
I love the internet. There’s always something going on. First: I’m over at Kirkus talking about the impetus for the giveaway this week. Or, in other language, why I am often at a loss when talking about my own book but am very eager to talk about everyone else’s! I love talking about other people’s books. I can tell you 56 reasons why Jill Shalvis’ upcoming book Head Over Heels (Grand Central, November 2011) worked for me. I can explain in staggering detail why I adore the novels of Sarah Morgan and think everyone should try one—if only to interrupt…
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August 31, 2011 | Wednesday | 12 Comments
We’re back with a new - and longer! - episode. This time around we’re talking about popular series in romance, specifically small town community romances which Jane has a particular name for. Just wait. It’s awesome. If you’ve ever wondered why it is that we so seldom choose a Save the Contemporary title, you’ll learn in this episode. We’ll also talk about streak reading, what we’re reading that’s awesome, and we’ll discuss some books that are coming out this fall. Plus, there’s special extra awesome erotica excerpt reading. Mwaaahahaha. You can subscribe to our feed at Feedburner or at iTunes.…
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July 06, 2011 | Wednesday | 50 Comments
I was pondering some of the books I’ve read recently, and wondered about something: do you notice if there are source materials or reference books mentioned in the back of your romance novels, in what I believe is called the “end matter?” Sometimes, I’ve seen author’s notes about books that rocked the author’s world during writing, or additional sources for more information about real people who appeared as characters in novels, and I always find that to be very cool. I have looked those books up online and peeked at them. But I wondered if there were readers who didn’t…
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June 29, 2011 | Wednesday | 2 Comments
This RITA® Reader Challenge review was written by Cassandra. This story finaled in the Best Novella category.
ETA: I also have a review from Alyssa, who gave this novella a B.
Plot Summary: Permanently injured on a black-ops mission, Cord Madden is furious at the world. Then Lexi McGowen reappears in his life to nurse him back to health. Little does he guess that she’s about to reveal a whole new world to him, one touch at a time.
And here is Cassandra’s review:
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June 26, 2011 | Sunday | 9 Comments
Libraryaddict read this book for the RITA® Reader Challenge. This book finaled in the Contemporary Romance category. Plot Summary: Maddie Moore’s whole life needs a makeover. In one fell swoop, Maddie loses her boyfriend (her decision) and her job (so not her decision). But rather than drowning her sorrows in bags of potato chips, Maddie leaves L.A. to claim the inheritance left by her free-spirited mother-a ramshackle inn nestled in the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Starting over won’t be easy. Yet Maddie sees the potential for a new home and a new career-if only she can convince…
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May 20, 2011 | Friday | 17 Comments
Look, the world is supposed to end tomorrow, so why not three videos?!
Here’s a collection of romance authors making me giggle. It’s long, but worth it. Watch the whole thing, and stay for the outtakes where Deanna Raybourn curses.
Link!
Seriously. Bugger. Damn. Well done, ladies.
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February 16, 2011 | Wednesday | 64 Comments
I went back to a comfort re-read because I’m in the middle of edits and revisions and my whole world is pretty much a festooned garland of those colorful track changes bubbles (I even looked for them in a cookbook yesterday - a printed one - eel!). I love comfort re-reads, books I can sink into knowing how much I’ll enjoy them, and knowing that even the third, or fourth, or fifth time, they’ll work for me. This weekend my comfort re-read is Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis, and it still works. Oh, boy howdy, do I love this book.…
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January 30, 2010 | Saturday | 143 Comments
Samantha McNead is the PR director for the Pacific Heat, a major league baseball team in California. Wade O’Riley is the catcher, both in the sense that he crouches behind home plate and grabs 90-mph fastballs, and in the sense that women throw themselves at him. ETA: Forgot a paragraph - oops! When a crazy fan fakes a pregnancy and claims the baby is Wade’s, a decision is made to have Sam and Wade pair off for awhile in the public eye to take the negative attention off of him and to give him a person in his life that…
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November 24, 2009 | Tuesday | 19 Comments
Time again for Billie Bloebaum, Powell’s Airport book buyer, matching readers to books - a dying art that I can’t get over. Amy writes: The last book I read that I really, really loved was “Sugar Queen” by Sarah Addison Allen. Billie: My first impulse is to go with Alice Hoffman or maybe ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ or ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ or ‘Chocolat’, but to find a good romance novel with a touch of magical realism that doesn’t veer into schmaltz is more of a challenge. ‘The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes’ by Crusie, Dreyer, and Stuart has that…
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November 03, 2009 | Tuesday | 73 Comments
We’re starting a new feature here at Smart Bitch HQ. I was having a lively email conversation with Billie Bloebaum, who is the book buyer for Powell’s in the Portland airport, and she mentioned how much she enjoyed handselling books she knew were wonderpants but not as widely known as other more prominent bestselling pants. I mentioned that I’d never had a bookstore employee handsell me a book in a store, and she about fell over. This handselling thing is an art, and with the consolidation of bookstores and the loss of smaller independents, it’s an endangered art. Some bookstore…
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September 03, 2009 | Thursday | 4 Comments
It is two pieces of awesome, and verily I am rocking out with the glee. First: Billie Bloebaum, romance buyer for Powell’s airport store in Portland, is now the romance blogger for PowellsBooks.blog. WORD. She’s had a few blog entries in the past, but now she’s going to be talking about romance, ebooks, and all things romance genre. Her first entry about romance? All about a pair of book I really, really really enjoyed: Jill Shalvis’ Double Play and Instant Attraction. Yay! In other news, did you know that you can buy ebooks from Powell’s? It’s true! Thanks to Darin,…
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July 11, 2009 | Saturday | 4 Comments
Holy Madlibs™! That entry spanked the giveaway and won’t stop shimmying ‘til it reaches the Internet! Announcing the winners of the Double Play giveaway, with homerun calls that are absolutely fun and looney. SugarSpice: Holy hamster ! That breast just flashed the music hall and it won’t stop bouncing ‘til it reaches Russia!! Cursingmama: Holy tiger ! That sucker just spun the sex shop and it won’t stop spewing ‘til it reaches Turkey!! chele: Holy monkey ! That circular saw blade just mounted the nunnery and it won’t stop ejaculating ‘til it reaches kazakhstan!! ghn: Holy kangaroo ! That tomato…
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February 04, 2009 | Wednesday | 26 Comments
I’ve never re-read an ebook before, but holy smoke, I’ve started rereading Instant Attraction and SLURP - I’m sucked right back in. Which is fine because we had three inches of snow yesterday and the book still makes me want to Google skiing lessons like the dork I am. [Note: if you won a copy in our contest, those books are on their way to all of you. My friendly neighborhood postage dude, a surly guy who isn’t really friendly now that I think about it, told me that given the storm from yesterday there may be a bit of…
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