Reading (mostly) romance books down under
This is going to be a very short Bizzo because I’m still in Melbourne and hotel Internet plans in this country are prehistoric. Might have to duck into Maccas for free WiFi. Anyway…
I’m a guest blogger over at Erotic Horizon, so please check out the post and say hi to EH. She gave me some great questions and I had heaps of fun answering them. I’ve just discovered her blog, but I’m enjoying it a lot.
ARRC09 was a rousing success, and we’re doing a round-up of posts here at Book Thingo over the next few days. For a full list of ARRC posts, including the liveblogging, click here.
You can also read other bloggers’ experiences at The Good, The Bad and The Unread
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This is a round-up of ARRC09 and is not in chronological order. If you want to read more anecdotes, check out the liveblog. Click here for a list of ARRC09 posts and liveblogs .
I was late to the Welcome Reception and was a bit scared I’d have to stand around on my own, tweeting furtively on my mobile, but there were so many other people either on their own or with only one other friend, that it didn’t seem to matter. Registration took no time at all, and I was given a bag with free books in it. That immediately put me into a good mood!
I didn’t find my friends until the end of the reception, but I did meet a couple of new people. I met a closet romance reader, who said she would be looked down upon if she ever told her colleagues she read romances. That made me sad! I can only hope the weekend was a great outlet for her. The other person I had a long chat with was an artist from WA. She was lovely and I think she was wonderfully surprised at the level of nerdiness enthusiasm on display.
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We’re liveblogging ARRC09 via Twitter. Come follow us at Twitter and check out the photos at Flickr.
Click here to view the liveblog of the ARRC09 Day 2 Morning sessions.
Click here for a round-up of ARRC09 posts.
If you’re interested in participating in the liveblogs, please let me know via Twitter or grab me at the convention. I’ll be mobile all day and may not get to my e-mails on time.
Read the rest of this post.
We’re liveblogging ARRC09 via Twitter. Come follow us at Twitter and check out the photos at Flickr.
Click here to view the liveblog of the ARRC09 Day 2 Morning sessions.
Click here for a round-up of ARRC09 posts.
If you’re interested in participating in the liveblogs, please let me know via Twitter or grab me at the convention. I’ll be mobile all day and may not get to my e-mails on time.
Read the rest of this post.
We’re liveblogging ARRC09 via Twitter. Come follow us at Twitter and check out the photos at Flickr.
Click here to view the liveblog of the ARRC09 Day 1 – Afternoon sessions.
Click here for a round-up of ARRC09 posts.
If you’re interested in participating in the liveblogs, please let me know via Twitter or grab me at the convention. I’ll be mobile all day and may not get to my e-mails on time.
Read the rest of this post.
We’re liveblogging ARRC09 via Twitter. Come follow us at Twitter and check out the photos at Flickr.
Click here to view the liveblog of the ARRC09 Day 1 Morning sessions.
Click here for a round-up of ARRC09 posts.
If you’re interested in participating in the liveblogs, please let me know via Twitter or grab me at the convention. I’ll be mobile all day and may not get to my e-mails on time.
Read the rest of this post.
We’re liveblogging ARRC09 via Twitter. Come follow us at Twitter and check out the photos at Flickr.
Click here to view the liveblog of the ARRC09 Welcome Reception starting at 6 pm.
Click here for a round-up of ARRC09 posts.
If you’re interested in participating in the liveblogs, please let me know via Twitter or grab me at the convention. I’ll be mobile all day and may not get to my e-mails on time.
Read the rest of this post.
The New Man by Janice Kay Johnson (Super Romance)
The New Man by Janice Kay Johnson isn’t my cup of Super Romance, but there’s a gentless in the story which may appeal to other readers.
Helen Schaefer lost her husband after a long illness and she’s wary of getting involved with Alec Fraser. She’s had enough of loss and is unwilling to let herself be vulnerable to that kind of grief again. Alec is a widower and knows all too well the devastating grief of losing a spouse. And while he’s open to starting a new relationship, he has his own issues to sort out with his family—particularly his son, Devlin.
The pace of this novel was too slow for me. Johnson fleshes out Helen’s character beyond the romance, but for the most part, I found those bits boring. More interesting is Alec’s home life and his struggle to communicate with Devlin. Johnson evokes the love, frustration and helplessness Alec feels when his efforts fail repeatedly, and his family situation comes across as real and honest. Disappointingly, the resolution of his conflict with Devlin is much too abrupt.
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If you’ve registered for the Australian Romance Readers Convention, don’t forget to vote for your favourite reader review (hopefully you’ll like the review of Claiming the Courtesan in the fifth round *g*). You can read the entries here, and voting ends tomorrow.
The ARRC website has a guest blog for authors supporting the convention. It seems everyone is jealous of our summer. All I can say is that I hope nothing happens to the air conditioning that weekend!
Check out the Melbourne Leader article on the convention: Romantics converge in Melbourne for novel convention. This time next week, we’ll be in Melbourne! *happy dance*
The National Library of Australia in Canberra is holding a speed dating night for book lovers on Friday, February 20. You’re invited to bring your favourite book to use as an ice breaker and meet other book lovers. The event is open to all book lovers—not just singles.
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John Riley's Girl by Inglath Cooper (Super Romance)
Back in high school, Harlequin Mills & Boon Super Romance was my particular brand of crack. I loved these books. I inhaled them, and even though I’d occasionally dabble in Blaze or Temptation, I always came back to Super Romance. John Riley’s Girl by Inglath Cooper took me back to those days of pretending to listen to our Spanish teacher while surreptitiously reading a romance book hidden behind a stack of textbooks. That said teacher was a nun only made it more daring. We bookworms can be rebels, too.
Olivia Ashford hasn’t been back to her hometown in fifteen years after a deeply painful event in her childhood. But a phone call from an old friend stirs up memories and curiosity, and on a whim she decides to return for her high school reunion. Olivia hopes that her visit to Summerville will help her find closure to old wounds. But John Riley, her high school sweetheart, isn’t willing to forget–much less forgive–the fact that Olivia abandoned him without so much as a goodbye. So when the reunion ends up being held at his farm, there’s no way to avoid the confrontation between them.
From the very first chapter, it’s obvious that there’s a huge misunderstanding
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(The Blood of Eden, Book 1) A compelling read, given Julie Kagawa’s brilliant writing and ability to create characters we can sympathise with, but it offers nothing new in terms of the vampire mythos.
(The Christies, Book 1) A second chance romance filled with adventure and set in a South African diamond mine. Not your conventional romance.
Despite some poignant moments, too many inconsistent elements may prevent you from fully enjoying the story. Best enjoyed as part of the series in which it belongs.
Starts off beautifully, but sizzling chemistry can’t save a couple that feels like they won’t last six months, let alone a lifetime.
This book takes risks and touches on issues not often found in the romance genre, but the lack of chemistry between an unsympathetic heroine and a hero who doesn’t seem ready for a long-term commitment make this one a DNF for me.
Humour, tragedy, realism and, of course, a happy beginning—this memoir has it all. I don’t know why I didn’t read this sooner.
A dramatic story with moments that will break your heart. Unfortunately, the hero’s emotional catharsis is rushed and the the resolution doesn’t match the story’s earlier promise.
Tohr’s book hearkens back to the earlier books in the BDB series. It’s not without its faults, but in true J. R. Ward fashion, when she pulls out the angst, it’s very, very good.
A beautifully written story—the sheikh romance for readers who hate sheikh romances. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read in the Mills & Boon Sexy line.
Skim through the beginning, because when this book gets good, it’s, oh, so very good. Alexei and Maisy may reflect the traditional alpha male and ingénue pairing in category romance, but they don’t always behave as expected. And that’s a good thing.
Special thanks to BOOKSELLER+PUBLISHER for keeping us abreast of what's going on in the Australian book industry, and particularly to Tim Coronel, who patiently explains to us the intricacies of book publishing in plain Tweet-lish.
Website| Twitter | Tim Coronel
