Romance Novels

A Patch of Darkness (Sierra Fox #1) by Yolanda Sfetsos | Ebook, 375 pages  Samhain Publishing (May 2012) Urban Fantasy A Patch of Darkness by Yolanda Sfetsos was one of those books that I felt sure I would love. The synopsis promised an interesting story with the type of kick-ass, damaged heroine that we’ve all come to know and love from Urban Fantasy novels. Sierra Fox makes a living finding ghosts and sending them up in front of the Council that has done so wrong by her in the past. Nothing and nobody is what they seem as Sierra tries to sort both her private and work-life out, whilst changing the dire fate of mankind. At first it seems as though Sierra is used to this odd world in which she lives, but as the story develops and new creatures and issues come to light, she seems very shocked by them all. In all honesty, she is not at all the kickass heroine that I was hoping for her. The best characters are those which develop throughout the story, and are moulded by the events, but Sierra remains the same throughout the novel. She apparently has more power than she realises, but nothing really explains why this should be. She just has flashes of this new and improved power whenever it seems necessary to the plot. She also has frequent episodes of TSTL, such as realising that maybe she shouldn’t have followed the villain of the piece into somewhere isolated after all. It’s not that she’s a hateful heroine, or anything like that – the issue is really that she is not very well-developed initially, and she makes little progress throughout the book. Another thing which was a little patchy was the world-building. It was very reminiscent of other Urban Fantasy books that I have read and enjoyed, such as Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts series. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as a lot of world-building is sometimes a little confusing, and a point of comparison can be helpful. However, the world that Yolanda Sfetsos created doesn’t have enough character of its own to stand truly apart from the worlds that have presumably inspired it. ‘Facts’ about the world are doled out as and when they seem necessary to the plot, which stops the issue of info-dumping, but threatens the credibility of the story. The writing itself is not the best that I have ever read, but that often doesn’t matter when the story is engaging enough to make it unnoticeable. This wasn’t the case in A Patch of Darkness, however, as the writing was constantly a little clumsy. At other times there were grammatical errors, and incorrect use of punctuation which makes it seem as though I am nit-picking, but they were just really obvious as my attention wasn’t held by the book. The cast of secondary characters are all pretty one-dimensional. The only one who was really interesting was Sierra’s sort-of-neighbour, Jason Papan, who actually manages to keep a secret for most of the book. The others just seemed to be there to move the plot along, or for absolutely no reason (although the novel is part of a series, so something might develop later). Jonathan, Sierra’s boyfriend, presents a bit of an enigma, but emphasis only seems to be placed on him when there is a lull in the action. VERDICT: All in all, A Patch of Darkness was an OK book. There was nothing awful about it, but I think that with a little further thought, it could have been a great novel. Everything just needed a little more filling out to give the novel and its characters a life of their own. RATING: YOLANDA SFETSOS ONLINE Website | Goodreads | Twitter BUY YOUR COPY

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. It features each blogger's most anticipated books. This week my pick is PERFECT RUIN by Lauren DeStefano. "On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose."Why I Can't Wait: I enjoyed DeStefano's Chemical Garden trilogy so it's only natural that I'm excited about her latest series. The summer for PERFECT RUIN sounds amazing. I'm curious to see what Internment is like and the mystery behind the murder. How will Morgan play a role in it, and is Judas innocent? Can't wait to find out! Expected publication: October 1st 2013 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

The Tower in the Woods by Tara Quan (Undead Fairy Tales #1) Liquid Silver Books (January 2013) Ebook, 89 pages Erotic Zombie-Apocalyptic Romance The Tower in the Woods by Tara Quan is a paranormal romance with an interesting premise. It is a spin on the Rapunzel fairy tale but set in a post zombie apocalyptic world. Nel is posted to the eponymous tower as a sniper but is completely cut off from the rest of WITCH (Women’s Independent Territory Church) apart from weekly visits from Mother Goethel, the prophet. Nel Zapur picks off zombies before they can reach the border of WITCH territory and she is exceedingly good at her job. Dane Prince is the man who upsets the Status Quo. Nel spots him in the woods injured and being followed by zombies, she takes the zombies out and eventually decides to allow him into her tower. This novel is thankfully very short. It’s easy to read, but there was a lot about the novel I didn’t like and a few parts I actively hated. Firstly the character of Dane was portrayed as a bit of a beast. I found the descriptions of his near constant arousal to be irritating, and for him to be barely controlling himself in not raping Nel all the time was hard to read. In addition to this Nel is portrayed as virginal, because of her closeted upbringing, and I got annoyed by the idea that both characters instinctively wanted each other. Dane is also kinky and into bondage, the scene where he takes her virginity made me feel a little ill. Nothing against bondage,  but this wasn’t portrayed as safe or sane, and only borderline consensual. I like reading Alpha Male characters, but they have to be done well, it is hard to balance the dominance with being attractive and I don’t think that Quan was successful here. Likewise, Nel as an inexperienced young woman accepting him without question felt strange to me. Stylistically the book jumps around, with scenes being repeated from the opposing point of view. This was tiresome, confusing, and pointless. Other elements I didn’t like was the epilogue which jarred horribly with the tone of the novel. I think my main issue was that I found it increasingly difficult to believe in, and relate, to the characters. The backstory, whilst a great idea was let down by poor execution and focus too much on the sex, rather than the development of a satisfying plot. VERDICT: If you are after a quick read with some bondage flavoured smut then The Tower in the Woods may work for you. However, for me there were too many issues around the plot and characters to engage and enjoy. RATING:  TARA QUAN ONLINE Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter BUY YOUR COPY

I’m in the midst of writing the Next Historical and it seems like this book is going to be a time management challenge. I sat down at the computer with full knowledge that I had several tasks to take care of before I opened up the book. Every single one of those tasks turned out to have several subtasks. Like, someone ordered a signed copy of a book, easy enough to deal with. But I offer a free digital copy to purchasers of a signed book (because they have to spend almost 3x the cost of the digital version for the print version) and this order came with a request for a copy. Which was fabulous! But it did mean I had to confirm I had the right file version (omitting some key facts here, just roll with me on this) so to be safe I had to generate a new file and then email it to her. And then I remembered I owed a reader who designed the world’s most awesome Cat Woman T-shirt and sent one to me. (I have the ONLY one in the US of A! And she has the only one in Australia) and I said, well, in return I will send you books! And I waited on that until I had print copies of My Darkest Passion so I could send her 5 books instead of just 4, and I had to get that ready to be mailed. And then I had to book my flight to Orange County because I’m speaking at the Orange County RWA the weekend before RWA, and I didn’t know which airport to fly into and I thought they’d told me, but after looking at all the emails, I couldn’t find that info, so I had to email them. They got back to me quickly so I booked the flight which entails a lot of staring at departure and arrival times and trying to figure out the whole, get up early or stay up late thing, and how long do I want to sit around at the airport. I’ve come to realize that I am incapable of dealing with uncertainty and would actually rather sit an hour at the gate than freak out over the possibility of being late or lost or both. So, yeah. And then I had to organize some important emails (seriously, if I don’t file away the important emails the day they land in my in-box, it’s hopeless.) AND I had to log income in the spreadsheet — because I live in fear of under-reporting income during the year and having my accountant calculate the wrong estimated tax (I paid the June taxes and now my bank account is gasping…) because if you end up owing more taxes than you thought, it’s just not pretty. So income gets logged the minute the deposit notices hit. Then I had to email a woman in Hong Kong about the PO returning the books I mailed her back in OCTOBER. I am not kidding. The Post Office returned the books by mule, I guess. Then I had to post here. And now it’s 9:37 pm and my bedtime. Thank goodness I wrote on my lunch hour. If I get cracking I might make word count before it’s too late…. Also, the dog, bless her little black heart, CHEWED UP MY COPY OF Epicure’s Almanack that cost me $50. It used to be in pristine shape and though I think it’s still kind of readable, I’m not sure if a book with the binding chewed off is going to last very long after I open it. I don’t think she ate any pages, but I’m too depressed to check. ::sob::  Do you ever have days like this?

Nicola here, back from a holiday sailing on the Norfolk Broads. The Broads is a vast area of connected rivers and lakes in the East of England and it has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. I’ve wanted to go sailing on the Broads since I read a book by Kathleen Fidler called “The Brydons on the Broads” when I was about 12 years old. The Brydons were a family who had lots of adventures but I remembered the story set on the Norfolk Broads in particular because it involved the children seeing a ghost ship and finding a secret Broad. Exciting! One of the special things about the Norfolk Broads is that when you are there, the atmosphere is so strong you can really imagine this happening. There are all sorts of secret little waterways with sailing boats slipping silently by. A kingfisher will flash past flying along the river and disused windmills stand sentinel over the reed beds. It’s a magical landscape.   A Brief History The Norfolk Broads look like a natural phenomenon but they are manmade. From the 9th century people cut the peat in the area to use as fuel for heating and cooking. This was a major industry until the 14th century but when sea levels began to rise the water filled the holes created by the peat cutting and formed a series of lakes, the Broads. In the 16th Century, Norwich was England’s second largest city after London and it was very convenient to have a network of waterways to transport wool and agricultural produce for export. For several hundred years Norfolk wherry ships were an iconic sight on the Broads. We saw several restored wherries that are still sailing today, including the one in the photo. By the 18th century work was underway to drain the marshland of the Broads because it was becoming too flooded. It is from this time that we have the other iconic Broads image – the beautiful windmills that were used as drainage pumps. Some of these have been turned into houses. Others have fallen into ruin. Most are extremely photogenic! By the 19th century the Broads was starting to be used for pleasure. Fishing was very popular as were the sailing “frolics,” the forerunners of regattas. During the Victorian and Edwardian era the Broads became a holiday destination for rich families seeking an “adventure” holiday! These days anyone can visit the Broads for an adventurous holiday afloat! The Broads also have a connection to Horatio Nelson; his sister lived at Barton House in the village of Barton Turf. It felt pretty cool to be sailing on Barton Broad and thinking that Nelson had probably done the same thing! St Benet’s Abbey One of the places I was keen to visit was St Benet’s Abbey, a monastery founded before the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the only abbey in England that was not closed as part of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the monasteries. There is a major archaeological project taking place to excavate St Benet’s. You can read about it here. In the 18th century a windmill was built into the ruins of St Benet’s gatehouse, which gives it the rather extraordinary appearance that it has today. St Benet’s is a very atmospheric place so it is fitting that there are lots of ghost stories associated with the ruins. One refers to a monk called Brother Pacificus who can be seen rowing across the river in a small boat, accompanied by his dog. It is said that the wherrymen would refuse to moor overnight near the ruins of St Benet’s because they were afraid of the ghosts. St Benet’s was also a very special place for us for finding a rare butterfly – not the very beautiful swallowtail, which we also saw, but a Wall Brown. This was first named in 1699 and referred to as “The golden marbled butterfly with black eyes.” Fairhaven There is a rather nice UK/USA connection at South Walsham, where we visited the Fairhaven Water Gardens. When we went there we discovered that Lord Fairhaven, who created the gardens, took his title from Fairhaven, Massachsetts, which was the p

We went to Birminghamthe other week to look at one of the few remaining genuine stage coaches which is is in Birmingham Museum Service’s Reserve Store. I’m working on a book about stagecoach travel, but more of that when I’m a bit further along! While we were in the city we took the opportunity to do some exploring and the highlight for us was the Soho House Museum in Handsworth. The photograph above shows the garden frontage. I'm not sure what Matthew Boulton would have thought of the satellite dish - he'd probably have been fascinated!This, from 1761, was the home of pioneering industrialist Matthew Boulton. It stood proudly above the vast Soho Manufactory, “The most complete Manufacturer in metals in England”. Boulton had inherited the family workshop producing buttons and buckles, but that was too small for him and when he leased Soho Mill he had the space to expand on a vast scale, spending £10,000 on the factory that became a must-visit sight for travellers from all over Europe. Boulton set up a tea and souvenir shop to cater for them and encouraged donations to the Soho Insurance Society, one of the first workplace sick-leave insurance schemes in the world benefitting his 1,000 workers.Boulton was manufacturing high quality silverwares, silver plate, buttons, buckles, dress swords, even the Nelson memorial mourning rings. But water power was simply not able to cope, so he went into partnership with steam power pioneer James Watt. Boulton & Watt manufactured steam engines for over 30 years and set up their own foundry to supply a world-wide trade. As Boulton said to James Boswell, “I sell here, Sir, what all the world desires to have – POWER.” Boulton was a member of the Lunar Society, a group of like-minded pioneer industrialists, scientists and inventors that met for dinner and scientific discussion. They became known as the Lunar Society because they met on nights close to the full moon in order to drive home more safely. Members included Dr Erasmus Darwin (Charles’s grandfather), Mathew Boulton, James Watt, Samuel Galton, Dr Joseph Priestley and Josiah Wedgwood. If you want to find out more about them, Jenny Uglow’s book The Lunar Men, is a brilliant read. The dining table the used is still in the house and is shown above.The manufactory has gone and only a small plot remains from the original 200 acres of park, garden and farm. There is a small, but interesting, museum next to the house itself and a charming garden planted with 18thc flowers. The manufactory site itself is buried beneath housing and Time Team carried out an excavation in the 1990s. The house has been beautifully restored and furnished with many of Boulton’s own possessions and items made in his manufactory. The stunning ormolu sidereal clock - a very accurate 'star' clock - was made at the Soho Manufactury in 1771. It is shown above in the Drawing Room. In 1776 Boulton sent it to Riussia, hoping that Catherine the Great would buy it but it was returned eleven years later. Apparently the court thought that such an expensive clock should also play tunes.Boulton had hot air central heating in the house, thought to be the first domestic system since Roman times. From a ‘cockle’ stove (one encased in a metal jacket) hot air rose to grills set in the hearths and through holes bored in the staircase risers as shown in the photo below. If you get the chance, do visit. It was virtually deserted when we were there and deserves far more visitors than it appears to receive. In the tea room you will meet the pair of sphinxes that Boulton bought for the garden in 1795. They have their own Twitter account @TheSohoSphinxes Louise Allen

The best books you should be reading right now! Each fortnight we will be recommending five of our favourite releases that we think you will love. Just click the book cover to be taken to our full review or its Goodreads page. We hope you find some fabulous reads and maybe a few new authors too. Happy Reading! 1. TANGLED by Emma Chase A funny, sexy romp of a romance that will have you laughing out loud one minute and all hot and bothered the next. Written from the view point of the hero, we get an insight into the male psyche and oh what fun it is. The first in the Tangled series, once you’ve read it you’ll be begging for book two. (Contemporary Romance)  2. THE QUEEN OF THE DEAD by Kate Locke A fast-paced and witty adventure featuring a feisty heroine. This latest instalment in The Immortal Empire series will leave you laughing out loud at the brilliant one-liners. With a plot full of twists and turns, a hot and steamy romance, and action scenes that never fail to pack a punch. (Urban Fantasy)  3. RIVER ROAD by Suzanne Johnson A great second instalment in the Sentinels of New Orleans series, combining supernatural mystery and sexual chemistry between the heroine and several male characters. A cracking read full of wizards, shape-shifters, hot Mermen and more sexy leading men than you can shake an elven stick at! (Urban Fantasy)  4. DOWN LONDON ROAD by Samantha Young A romance novel that takes you to hell and back with all the emotional highs and lows, but one that will also leave you with a warm feeling inside. A fantastic read that combines love and lust with tension and suspense in equal measure. And a conclusion that will leave you perfectly satisfied. (Contemporary Romance)  5. COMING HOME by Christine S. Feldman  A very well written romance, with a hero who’s strong, sexy and hilarious, and a heroine on a journey of self-discovery, individual struggles, getting past personal barriers and two people coming together despite everything they have been through. A short read but one that packs a punch. (Contemporary Romance)

I am running out the door to a hair appointment, and then diving back into copy edits, but I wanted to mark the 198th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo today.  When I was in high school, I thought about becoming an archaeologist, and I’m still fascinated with the profession!  A few months ago I read an article in “Archaeology” magazine about an unknown soldier’s skeleton found on the battlefield in Belgium, still with the musket ball that killed him in his ribs.  It was an amazing story (and it seems the search for the soldier’s ID is still going on).  Here are a few articles about the find: From the Daily Mail (“Early analysis suggests the remains are of a 20-year-old man, who was 5ft 1in tall with teeth worn by biting open gunpowder tubes.”) From the Huffington Post From the History Blog And a soldier’s letter from the battle at the British Library…. I wasn’t able to find any info on whether they had identified this man yet or not–if you know anything else, let me know! What are some of your favorite events and mysteries from history???

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the fabulous ladies at the Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is the Top Ten Books On Your TBR List For Summer 2013. I have loads, mainly review books, but lets see if I can pick just ten. Woot, woot!*All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry- I have heard insanely amazing things about this book! (goodreads/amazon)*Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan-LOOOOVED I'LL BE THERE (goodreads/amazon)*Reality Boy by A.S. King- Seriously love this woman's work! (goodreads/amazon)*Starry Nights by Daisy Whitney- Because summer wouldn't be summer without a bit of art and romance (goodreads/amazon)*The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas- The fantasy fan in me gets giddy just thinking about this book. (goodreads/amazon)*Where The Stars Still Shine by Trish Dollar- Love the cover! (goodreads/amazon)*New Money by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal- It's not summer without a southern gal moving to the big apple (goodreads/amazon)*This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales- Friendship, self discovery, AND music? Sold! Plus, MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS is amazeballs so...ya know. (goodreads/amazon)*Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young- Love this Sliding Doors concept. Go to a party, stay at home, live both lives? Awesome. (goodreads/amazon)*All Our Pretty Songs by Sarah McCarry- Two best friends in love with a guy who's music can awake an ancient evil? Sign me up! (goodreads/amazon)There you have it! What books are on your Summer TBR list?

A Bandit’s Stolen Heart by Michelle McLean (Blood Blade Sisters #1) Entangled Publishing (March 2013) Ebook, 254 pages Historical / Western Romance Cilla Richardson is a modern-day Robin Hood, well as modern as you can be in 1856. She robs from the rich, most notably her brother, Frank, the crooked sheriff and helps out the poor. Her life takes a change when she hits Leo, our hero, over the head during one of her raids. You can imagine he is a bit shocked when he finds out the bandit Blood Blade is Cilla and even more shocked at her proposition that he marry her sister. A Bandit’s Stolen Heart is a great book. I loved it! Imagine Robin Hood as a girl in the wild west. Cilla is Blood Blade, a notorious outlaw that is hired by the poor to steal back what was stolen from them. She is spunky, loyal and pretty. Leo is handsome, brave and married to her sister, Brynne. Oops! Cilla thought she was solving a problem by convincing Leo to marry her sister but created a bigger problem by falling in love with him. The author created a great love story with no sex and I didn’t miss it! Since Leo is technically married to Brynne, even if in name only, it would have created an even bigger moral dilemma if the two characters had sex. While I do love a nice steamy sex scene, it is a nice change when an author can keep things more historically accurate without the sex. Let’s face it, in the 1800′s sex before marriage was a no no for “nice girls”. Even though Cilla is a bandit, she is still a “nice girl”. The story itself also keeps you interested. I was more interested in what was going to happen next, than worrying about when or if the characters were going to hop into bed. The action was almost non-stop and I can say I was surprised by a few events. I honestly could not put the kindle down. VERDICT: Loved it! A Bandit’s Stolen Heart is almost non-stop action with a great love story. There are no steamy love scenes but the story does not need them, and it would have only hurt the characters to have included them. I can not wait for the next two books to come out. RATING:  MICHELLE MCLEAN ONLINE Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter BUY YOUR COPY