A Snowball's Chance by Nikki Rivers/A Christmas Carol by Kathleen O'Reilly

This humorous, sexy friends-to-lovers romantic comedy is an excellent debut in category romance.

I love the friends-to-lovers theme in romance, especially in category novels. During my deepest Mills & Boon addiction, this was my absolute favourite type of couple. Probably it was because I was in high school at the time.

Unlike your typical friends-to-lovers pairing, the couple in Kathleen O’Reilly’s first category romance don’t suffer from a lust imbalance (where one person has always harboured a secret crush on the other). Carol Martin has been best friends with Mike Fitzgerald since they were kids. Strictly platonic. She’s looking for someone more sophisticated; he’s not willing to risk the wrath of her mother by so much as thinking inappropriate thoughts.

But all it takes are some suggestive comments from Carol’s Aunt Eleanor to get those thoughts going. And once lust gets in the way of their friendship, Carol and Mike have to sort out what they’re willing to live with … and whom they can live without.

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I swore I wouldn’t pick up another open-ended series, but I was completely sucked into the Soul Screamers series. This month’s mixed bag looks at the books so far.

Thanks to a free novella at Books on Board, I’m now addicted to the Soul Screamers books, a teen urban fantasy series—with a bit of romance thrown into the mix—by Rachel Vincent.

Vincent uses Irish mythology as a basis for her alternate world. Sixteen-year old Kaylee Cavanaugh is a bean sidhe (banshee), whose piercing screams call to dying souls. The series begins with Kaylee’s discovery of her heritage and introduces the secondary characters that will form part of her core team, if you will, in tackling the otherworldly challenges she’ll face.

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We don’t review children’s books here at Book Thingo. Usually, I don’t even discuss them because many of the books we review have adult content and I don’t think it’s a good fit.

But today I was browsing at Bray’s Books and found the best picture book. Ever.

When I tweeted my discovery, Jon Page (@PnPBookseller) from Pages & Pages sent me the link to the book trailer. So awesome.

You can find the book at your nearest independent bookseller or borrow it from your local library.

Touched by Fire by Kathleen O'Reilly

I’m determined to review every Kathleen O’Reilly book in my shelf, starting with her debut into historical romance.* The writing shows promise, but lacks the subtlety of her later work.

* Update: Although O’Reilly wrote this novel first, based on publication dates this is actually her second novel. Her first published work of fiction is A Christmas Carol.

When I discovered Kathleen O’Reilly’s books, I went on a mission to track down her backlist. O’Reilly’s first work of fiction, Touched by Fire, is a Regency romance—the only historical romance she’s published so far—featuring a hero with a deep, dark secret, and a heroine who just won’t take no for an answer.

I know; it sounds a bit absurd. It kind of is a bit absurd.

Colin, Earl of Haverwood grew up with the shameful secret that his birth was a result of his mother’s rape in the hands of a convicted murderer. The circumstances of his birth, and his adoptive father’s certainty that Colin is afflicted with the same murderous lust, has driven him to avoid any real relationships with women.

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Torment by Lauren Kate (Fallen, Book 2)

A page turner that raises more questions that it answers—just the kind of torment to reel Decadence right into another series.

Lauren Kate’s Fallen series is about a girl who falls in love with a fallen angel before she dies at the age of 17 and is reborn. In every incarnation, Luce Price’s life draws her to the immortal Daniel Grigori, but the ending has always been the same. Until now.

In this incarnation, Luce is plagued by the sinister-looking shadows (I picture them resembling the Dementors from Harry Potter) that no one outside the supernatural world seems to be able to see. Also, she has not been baptised, so this is her last life. She will not be coming back after she dies,

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Our ever vigilant BDB guru, Decadence, recaps last Saturday’s online chat with J. R. Ward and Jessica Andersen.

I actually missed the first half hour or so of this chat, so hopefully no one said anything too important before I made it. The first half was dedicated to Jessica Andersen, author of the Nightkeepers series and J. R. Ward’s critique partner. There was a free-for-all in the break, and then the rest of the chat was for Ward.

Erotica author Dalton Diaz was there, but the speed of the chat intimidated her and the ‘chat virgin’ was spared having to answer questions this time at least (this is not a reflection on Dalton Diaz, but the chaos that is a J. R. Ward chat). There was an unusual amount of side chatter as JR had just finished writing Lover Unleashed the day before and she, Doc Jess and her mods were partying before the copyedits come in and they have to buckle down again.

I have paraphrased the questions so I can focus on getting the answers. Any mistakes are mine.

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I wrote this article for the ARRA newsletter early this year. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that every time I talk about reading the back of the book first, #afairydies.

On the weekend I was reading Solace & Grief, a young adult urban fantasy by Australian author Foz Meadows, and around a third of the way in I just couldn’t help myself: I read the ending.

When I tell people of my spoilery ways, they either tell me that they do it, too—and nine times out of ten they’re romance readers—or they’re shocked that I could do such a thing. It ruins the story! they insist. And I tell them, No, it allows me to read the book instead of stressing out about how it might end!

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Spontaneous by Brenda Jackson/Long Summer Nights by Kathleen O'Reilly

It’s a labour of love to hunt down the local Blaze release by my favourite contemporary romance author, but it was definitely worth the wait.

I love Kathleen O’Reilly’s writing voice. Love. So if you’re looking for a non-fangirly review of her latest Blaze release, you’re reading the wrong blog.

But stay with me. I wouldn’t recommend the book if it wasn’t good.

Times journalist Jenn Dale is facing the sack—her biggest rival is sleeping with the boss—and she’s on the hunt for a big story to save her dream job. Except she’s stuck in possibly the worst cabin accommodation, to cover a festival that has no hope in hell of making headlines.

Meanwhile, she meets the tortured writer—‘Mr Habitual Scowler’—staying at cabin number three. And discovers that he has great finger technique. Must be all that frantic typing.

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In a special RSVP event, Tara Moss came to Galaxy to sign copies of her newest book, The Blood Countess.

Tara was dressed in head-to-toe toe black with no visible sign (to my eye at least) of her baby bump. She accessorised with black nails, a black head band, black fingerless lace gloves, a long, beskulled necklace, blingy skull earrings from Vivienne Westwood and tall black heels.

I arrived in time for questions, but we didn’t have many and I suspect that many of us (and I’m including myself as well) haven’t read the book yet. Someone asked about the shopkeeper character and Tara hedged and tried not to give too much away. She said he’s a lovely shopkeeper and some characters appear in the books that we may see play a bigger part later.

Tara was asked how many books she has planned for the series and she said that it’s open ended. She’s happy to keep writing them as long as people enjoy reading them and she won’t have any problems writing more books.

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In keeping with Halloween, this month’s Mixed Bag is a mix of (mostly) otherworldly books by (mostly) Australian authors.

Fallen by Lauren Kate (Fallen #1)

Fallen by Lauren Kate (Fallen, Book 1)

When Luce starts senior year (year 12 for us) at a boarding school for troubled teens, she discovers that her classmates aren’t, well, normal, and that the reason the school hottie is avoiding her at all costs has something to do with her destiny—until for some reason her destiny doesn’t happen on schedule.

I might have enjoyed this story more if I hadn’t already read the many—oh, so many—teen urban fantasy books with similar characters and conflicts. The brooding, I’m-no-good-for-you-so-I’ll-turn-down-your-advances-by-being-rude-and-offensive hero just doesn’t work for me anymore. At least, not unless the heroine calls him out on it—and Luce doesn’t do it enough. It got interesting towards the end, but the main characters didn’t have enough shades of grey for me.

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