Slice: Juicy Moments From My Impossible Life by Steven Herrick
In short: I loved this book.
Let me start by saying that Slice isn’t a book I would’ve picked up on a whim. The reasons I picked up my review copy had nothing to do with interest: it was skinny enough not to weigh down my bag; I love watermelons. Seriously, there’s something delightful about that cover.
This novel doesn’t have much of a plot, but Steven Herrick is such a fabulous craftsman that he manages to connect tenuously related vignettes about teenage life into a story I couldn’t put down.
Sixteen-year old Darcy admits he suffers from chronic ‘premature enunciation’. It’s not that he talks without thinking: ‘I mean what I say, I just shouldn’t say it aloud.’
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Blameless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate, Book 3)
After the cliffhanger that was Changeless, the latest instalment in the Parasol Protectorate series brings us back to romance territory.
After Changeless, I was very frustrated. It was a total cliffhanger, and I went as far as DMing Gail Carriger on Twitter to ask what was going to happen next. She very nicely replied, I’m very sorry but I can’t tell you. Fortunately, Kat got a review copy of Blameless last Friday, which coincided with Carriger’s visit to Galaxy to randomly sign things. She assured us that, as a believer of happy endings, she always makes sure everything ends with a HEA.
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Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Not to to be effusive or anything, but this is the book that began my love affair with Melina Marchetta’s books.
When I read fiction, regardless of genre, I automatically seek a sense of connection with the words on the page. Sometimes a scene will get me, or a character, or a turn of phrase. I long for these moments of empathy that can turn an otherwise forgettable book into a treasure in my bookshelf.
Saving Francesca gives me diamonds on every page.
Francesca Spinelli is one of thirty girls at St Sebastian’s, a previously ‘all-boys’ school that has opened its doors to girls in Year Eleven for the first time ever.’ She misses the feeling of belonging she had at her old school with her old friends:
St Sebastian’s pretends it’s co-ed by giving us our own toilet. The rest of the place is all male and I know what you’re thinking if you’re a girl. What a dream come true, right? Seven hundred and fifty boys and thirty girls?
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Love Bites by Lynsay Sands (Argeneau Vampire, Book 2)
This guest review is courtesy of Buttercup, a self-confessed Lynsay Sands fan.
The story begins rather bleakly in a morgue where our hero, Etienne Argeneau, is lying on a metal table about to be examined by our heroine, coroner Rachel Garrett. She is feeling a little puzzled at her attraction for the good looking, but dead, guy. She feels even more puzzled when the corpse starts talking to her.
Etienne is not in fact dead—he is a vampire with a bullet in his chest. Unfortunately for Rachel, whoever killed Etienne follows him to the morgue and she is caught in the crossfire, and is mortally wounded. Etienne wakes up just in time and saves Rachel from death by biting her. This turns out to be a great sacrifice on Etienne’s part as vampires are bound by law to turn only one human in his lifetime, an honour usually reserved for a possible mate. He brings Rachel home and takes care of her while she is transitioning, and takes a softly, slowly approach in introducing Rachel to the world of vampires. Sometimes with hilarious results…
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Remastering Jerna by Ann Somerville
A BDSM book for readers who don’t read BDSM. Yes, it was that good.
[Edited because my previous intro was highly susceptible to misunderstanding.]
Australian author Ann Somerville has, at times, been a controversial figure in some of the online romance communities I hang out in. I mention this up front because I get the feeling that a lot of readers will want to dismiss her work based on preconceived notions.
All I can say is that they’d be missing out on one of my most unexpected keepers of 2009. (And I’m not the only one who thinks so.)
Yes, the book starts a little shakily as Somerville sets up the protagonist, Jerna Setiq, a devoted husband, teacher and father of two, whose contented life is decimated when he’s falsely convicted of child perversion. Once the stage is set for Jerna’s emotional journey, however, Somerville gets it just about perfect.
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Put your books down!
The 2009 Books Alive Reading Challenge finished yesterday (or today if you’re behind the date line). Stop reading and start writing your lists! Include a link to your challenge results in the comments below, so we can check out what you read. I’ll post a round-up post next week, so you have until Sunday to get those reviews done!
If you don’t have a blog, feel free to list your books in the comments below, or let me know if you’d like to do a guest post here on Book Thingo.
Books Alive Quickie Challenge
Here’s a list of the top 10 books I’ve read this year so far.
1. My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne – If you think romance writers can’t write beautiful prose, you need to read this book.
2. Addition by Toni Jordan – For maths nerds, people who count their steps, and lovers of base 10. You know who you are.
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Addition by Toni Jordan
Toni Jordan’s debut novel was a delight to read. It’s not often I come across unconventional protagonists, and this one has become a favourite.
“It all counts.”
So begins Toni Jordan’s debut novel about a woman with a peculiar problem: She counts—everything.
Grace Lisa Vandenburg lives by numbers—from the number of letters in her name, to the number of bites it takes to eat a flourless orange cake sprinkled with poppy seeds from her local cafe, she shapes her world using whatever unit of measurement presents itself.
So when she finds herself 1 banana short at the grocery checkout, what’s she supposed to do?
My shopping trolley has 2 trays of chicken thighs, fat and glossy,
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The Eternal Kiss: Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire edited by Trisha Telep
If you’re thinking of reading The Eternal Kiss to wean yourself off a Twilight high, think again. Pitting Twilight against this feast of words and emotions would be like comparing Passion Pop with a full-bodied Shiraz.
The Eternal Kiss is a collection of 13 vampire stories for young adults written by some of the most popular authors in the genre. The stories in this luscious anthology are indeed bound by blood, but it’s the complexity of desire that gives the authors room to flex their skills.
This isn’t a romance anthology, but most of the stories incorporate some flavour of love, lust or both. Desire wars with reason, and the passion of youth is explored—sometimes tenderly, sometimes with violence. The authors offer different points of view—guys and girls, vampires and humans, predator and prey.
Most touch on one’s sense of identity and asks the question, What makes us unique? There’s no common sense of morality, and this is what makes the anthology, as a whole, so compelling.
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Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Series, Book 1)
Slave to Sensation was one of the first paranormal romances I ever read—could I have asked for a better introduction to the genre? This book has a permanent spot in my keeper shelf and remains my favourite in the Psy-Changeling Series.
Slave to Sensation was the first book I ever bought based purely on online buzz after author Nalini Singh ran a viral marketing campaign through Dear Author. I’ve never regretted my decision, and this series, currently up to its sixth book, is still an auto-buy for me.
Slave to Sensation begins with a chilling prologue that introduces Silence—a process of conditioning Psy children into suppressing all emotion in order to stamp out the growing violence and insanity in the Psy population. Gifted with advanced mental capabilities, the Psy consider themselves perfect in their Silence.
Sascha Duncan has always suspected she’s flawed. Lately, she’s been leaking emotion, and only her ability to mimic Silence protects her from being forced into rehabilitation. When Sascha meets Lucas Hunter, alpha of the DarkRiver changeling pack, to negotiate a historic business deal, his emotional changeling nature batters at her mental shields.
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Courting Disaster by Kathleen O'Reilly (Southern Legacies: The Prestons, Book 6)
A virgin country singer paired with a playboy race car driver hero could’ve been a recipe for disaster, but Kathleen O’Reilly writes some of the best couple dynamics I’ve read in a category romance.
Courting Disaster is the sixth book in the Southern Legacies series, and this is painfully obvious in the first few chapters. The only mildly interesting event in the first 40 pages is a parking accident, which sets up the meeting between playboy race-car driver Demetri Lucas, a close friend of the Prestons, and country-and-western singer Elizabeth Innis, who’s part of the Prestons’ extended family.
Once O’Reilly gets through the series continuity info dump, the book picks up the pace and we’re treated to a romance that’s both somewhat traditional and yet unpredictable.
Old-fashioned romance with modern sensibilities
Elizabeth is a famous singer whose virginal reputation is part of her “brand”, if you will. O’Reilly gives her a back story in which this is plausible if not entirely believable.
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