Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Review
April 11, 2012 | Wednesday | 51 Comments
I admit, I have a low tolerance for amnesia stories. I don't often enjoy them, I can't suspend my disbelief when the person with amnesia conveniently remembers some things, like the names of her household servants, but doesn't remember other things, like who she is. And I always wonder where the other physical symptoms are, like questionable bladder control or possible drooling. So when this book was recommended to me, I read it with some trepidation. Ultimately, I finished it because I wanted to know what happened, not because I cared about the characters or their plight. It fed my…
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April 10, 2012 | Tuesday | 22 Comments
I said out loud twice while reading this book, "This is the least erotic erotic romance. No one's having any sex." Hubby thought I was nuts, but while the story was friendly and sometimes very sweet, there was not much erotic content, in my opinion. If you're looking for explicitness, this is not the Canadian equivalent of small-town, large-family cowboy erotic romance (Lorelei James, for example). I liked this book, but I was expecting erotic romance, so I came away disappointed. For example: the cover and the description sent me a message that There Be Lots of Sex In This…
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April 09, 2012 | Monday | 19 Comments
The Dark Wife was recommended in the thread of f/f romance recommendations, and when I read the summary, I was really curious. Then I started reading the book and before I knew it, I was more than a third of the way into the book, it was nearly midnight, and my brain had no idea where the past two and a half hours had gone. This book swallows you whole. Be wary of picking it up if you only have a few minutes to read. The story moves so fast and the prose is so attentiongrabby that you'll keep going…
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December 05, 2011 | Monday | 13 Comments
Back in August, this lovely author, Theresa Meyers, sent an email to Smart Bitch Sarah asking if I (Me! CarrieS!) would review her latest book, The Hunter. Well. As Paula Deen once said, that just knocked my socks clean off and into the washer. I feel I have Arrived. Now that authors (or, at least, an author) are requesting me (me!) personally, I'm sure the New Yorker will be calling any minute. I'm waiting by the phone, New Yorker! Call me! Anyway, there I was, flattered right out of my mind, when I realized that this was actually a disaster,…
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March 24, 2011 | Thursday | 25 Comments
Hello Geeks, it is time once again for my monthly review of something geeky and romantic. This month I read Across the Universe, to determine whether or not it is a Romance Novel, capital R, capital N, by which I mean a story in which the love story is the main focus and a happy ever after is reached. I was drawn to this novel for two reasons. First, it’s a fairly new release that got a lot of buzz when it came out in January of this year. Second, it just screams “Teen Angst Romance”. The front cover has…
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February 02, 2011 | Wednesday | 68 Comments
It could have been worse. When people ask me if I’m “Into Star Wars”, I say, “Yes, absolutely”. But when I say “Star Wars”, I mean, “Star Wars: A New Hope”, “The Empire Strikes Back”, and “Return of the Jedi”. I saw the first two prequels but am convinced they were a hallucination brought on by bad popcorn. I’ve never seen the Clone Wars. And I’ve never read a Star Wars novel. But for you, dear bitches, I braved the novelization world to review The Courtship of Princess Leia. I figured a novel about Han and Leia’s romance would either…
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January 24, 2011 | Monday | 34 Comments
I have so many memories wrapped up in this book. There’s the time when I was 15, and it was one of two romance novels I took with me when I was an exchange student. And there’s that other time, a few years ago when I journeyed out to a booksigning hosted by the Dunes & Dreams Chapter of RWA (it’s on eastern Long Island. To get there, drive until you’re just about in Europe, then stop), and met Bertrice Small - who then, I am not even kidding, invited me into her home to see the original etchings for…
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December 07, 2010 | Tuesday | 21 Comments
First: Unusual Historicals is four years old! Given how much I enjoy historical novels in other locations, and how many more I see each year, I think this is a good anniversary. Have a look at the Unusual Historicals site for prizes and fun, and tell me, what’s your favorite unusual setting? This post from Penny Romance made me snort-laugh: A Day in the Life of Amazon Romance Boards. My favorite part: Bosnia. I had this link a few days ago and cannot believe I forgot to share it: College QB or Roance Novel Hero?. I got 10 out of…
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October 28, 2010 | Thursday | 26 Comments
I found this book a few weeks ago when I noticed that it was one of the top reviewed titles at All Romance, and I wondered what the reviewers liked about it. Most of the comments focused on the unique emotional journey of the protagonists, and boy howdy, were they right. Jonathan Kechter is a workaholic living a rather lonely life after a bad breakup. When he is set up on a blind date with Cole Fenton, it’s a total mess: Jonanthan’s cell phone won’t stop ringing - and of course all of the calls are ones he “has to…
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October 13, 2010 | Wednesday | 13 Comments
I am a fan of forbidden attraction romances, but I often get a major case of the squicks from romances that are set in a workplace, particularly a nanny/babysitter employment situation. But Christie Ridgeway’s name and the description that indicated the kids were older and therefore the nanny was, too, was enough to convince me to give the book a try. Oh, holy smoke, there is some hot steamy attraction up in here. While the ending left me a little cold, the development of attraction and the negotiation of the relationship was steaming excellently hot. Kayla has been the nanny…
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October 12, 2010 | Tuesday | 58 Comments
I write this with dismay, honestly. Despite some major faults, the Kindle does digital book reading, loading, and buying so well, and works so well for me, I’m using the Kindle. Not even the Sony Mercedes ebook reader could lure me away. Every time I sit down at my computer, I find out about a new way to read, load or access books on the Kindle. I can sync books purchased at Amazon across six devices at this point, and I can email files to my device anywhere. Because of the way I interact with books (lots of them, in…
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October 12, 2010 | Tuesday | 48 Comments
I think of the three Sony readers with the updated touch screens as the Lexus, the Mercedes, and the Hummer. The Lexus, or the Sony Pocket, is slender, trim, comes in pink and is luscious. The Hummer is the Daily and my gosh golly it’s huge. Built like a Zagat’s guide on steroids, with wireless and a touch screen interface and did I mention it’s huge? It’s like a reading sky scraper. The middle one, the Touch, I think of as the Mercedes. And I want to be clear here, the high-end car analogy, which I will absolutely beat into…
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October 11, 2010 | Monday | 65 Comments
Three readers, one week: today and tomorrow I’ll be featuring reviews of the new Sony Touch, the Kindle 3, and the Nook - the latter by guest reviewer Shannon Stacey. I personally didn’t like the Nook. It was bottom heavy. It’s interface was clunky, poorly responsive, and the LCD at the bottom was hugely annoying.I got the fail flower all the time. I didn’t think it was comfortable. I liked the Kindle better. But that’s my opinion and I know many, many people who adore their Nooks (HOLY GOATS WHO CAME UP WITH THAT NAME?!) (I promise that’s the last…
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September 20, 2010 | Monday | 11 Comments
Carrie S. sent me this guest review - which to my surprise matched very well with my own review, which I wrote before I read hers, so I decided to run them both. OK, first of all, can I just say, “EWWWWWWWWWW”. And also, “BWAHAHAHAHA”. That’s my whole book review, basically. What follows is just filler. Married With Zombies opens, as so many magazine columns have, with the question, “Can this marriage be saved?”. Sarah and David are totally sick of each other. He fills the CD changer in the car with Whitesnake, and she hates Whitesnake. She argues with…
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September 16, 2010 | Thursday | 46 Comments
It’s actually very difficult to review this book, as I still think about it, and even when writing the review I picked up the book and started reading it again. I’m part YAY and I’m part BOO though I’m not MEH about it either. There are tremendously strong parts to this book, and parts that were so not-strong they broke the shiny smooth edges off the perfect parts, and STILL I pick up the book and start reading it again when I’m near my copy. This happened right from the start, too, damn seductive book. I read this book after…
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