Love Is A Four-Legged Word by Kandy Shepherd

Despite all the perfect ingredients for a great contemporary romance, the plot and both characters are so predictable that the synopsis at the back of the book is a good two-thirds of the entire novel.

Chocolate, dogs and a hot alpha hero—need I say more?

Professional chef and food editor Madeline ‘Maddie’ Cartwright has just inherited a fortune from her secret multi-millionaire landlord and appointed guardian to a very wealthy Brutus Stoddard. That he has four legs, barks and defecates where he shouldn’t makes it a rather unusual case for his lawyer, Tom O’Brien, who’s more than a little suspicious of his pretty new owner.

It wouldn’t be out of place to start this review by mentioning that I have three dogs and I love them to pieces, but living with animals requires hard work and patience (now that I think about it, what doesn’t?!). This book had the perfect formula guaranteed to reel me in—a hot hero and cute dogs! Notice I didn’t mention the chocolate.

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Chasing the Devil: On Foot through Africa's Killing Fields by Tim Butcher

Someday, when these countries have become whole again and the world remembers that they can be beautiful, I might find myself there, gazing out of their harbour, chilling with a beer. In the meantime, I’m content to let Butcher do all the walking.

In 2009, Tim Butcher set out to retrace Graham Greene’s journey, from his book, Journey without Maps, wherein which he walked from Sierra Leone to Liberia (with a bit of Guinea in between). Through his travelogue he recounts the history of both countries, the effects of war, as well as some vignettes from his time as a war correspondent.

I first discovered Butcher years ago, when I read his book, Blood River, about journeying to the mouth of the Congo. I was, at that time, looking for more books/travelogues on Africa and was happy to try his book out. I thought it was extremely well written and was moved enough to buy the next one when it came out.

The thing about Butcher’s books is that they don’t make you want to travel to where he’s been. On the contrary, they usually make me want to do the opposite.

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Photo: svilen001 (via Flickr)

Kelley Armstrong events

Thu, Aug 11 — Sun, 14 — Romance Writers Conference
Mon, Aug 15 — Dymocks Collins St, 6.30pm
Tue, Aug 16 — Galaxy Bookshop, 5.30pm
Wed, Aug 17 — Dymocks George Street, 12.30pm

(Source: Media release)

Maria V. Snyder — Updated list of public events

Thu, Aug 4 — Byron Bay Writers Festival, 11am – 11.45am: Vampires VS Gritty Realism

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Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files, Anthology)

Snippets of the (ongoing) life and times of the wizard Harry. No, not that one.

As the title suggests, Side Jobs isn’t a new addition to the Dresden Files series but a collection of previously published short stories (most from other anthologies). If you’re an avid follower of the series this won’t deter you from buying it, if only for the last story, ‘Aftermath’—the carrot that Butcher tormented readers with by stating that it takes place 45 minutes after Changes. If you’re all caught up you know how big, juicy and tasty this carrot would be to any Dresden-starved fan.

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Remember that exciting news I mentioned on Twitter last week? It’s been difficult not to spill the beans, but now I can finally officially welcome Envyious to our team of regular bloggers at Book Thingo!

I’ve been thinking of inviting more people to join our group of regular bloggers for a while now, but it wasn’t until I looked at all my unread review copies that I realised there was no way Decadence, Wandergurl and I could possibly get through them. Plus, I’ve known for a while that we needed another blogger whose reading palette includes books that the three of us wouldn’t typically select.

Some of you may know Envious from Twitter, or you may have met her at ARRC, and if so you would know that she’s an avid reader, works for a bookshop, and writes entertaining reviews. (She was a finalist in the Readers Challenge for ARRC 2011 with her review of Dream Master by Maggie Nash.)

As a bonus, Envyious is based in Melbourne, so hopefully we can cover more events outside of Sydney.

But most of all, she’s totally awesome and we’re very excited to have her on board! Her first review goes up tomorrow, so watch this space. In the meantime, feel free to throw some virtual cheers her way. :D

All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins

A surprisingly sweet and funny story with some solid and charming characters.

The Bridget Jones-style beginning of All I Ever Wanted almost caused me to put this book down, but I persevered because I’d been wanting to try Kristan Higgins for some time now. I’m glad I did because the story is surprisingly sweet and funny, with some solid character development.

Callie Grey has been pining for her boss—formerly her high school crush and first kiss—and patiently waiting for the ‘timing’ to be right for their relationship. But despite one glorious five-week fling almost a year ago, Mark announces his engagement to the daughter of a key client. On Callie’s birthday. Oh, and his fiancée would now be working with the company.

Sure, she wants Mark back, but Callie gamely tries to get back into the dating pool by checking out the town’s new vet…except Ian McFarland is not exactly receptive to Callie’s charms.

It’s hard to place this book. It has a chick-lit feel and is told from the first person, but the romance features heavily in the second half of the book. It’s also not as self-centred as chick-lit tends to be. Higgins plays for laughs, but never really at the expense of her protagonist. Behind Callie’s insecurities and problems is a fairly confident, successful woman with a clear sense of who she is, surrounded by people who love her.

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The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate (Fallen, Prequel)

Enjoyable in a seedy way. If you’re looking for a book with an innocent heroine and black and white morality, you will be shocked.

Warning: If the title wasn’t enough of a hint, this story does not have a happy ending. This is a standalone novel originally published before the Fallen series and has been reissued presumably as a result of the series’ success.

Natalie Hargrove is the most popular girl at Palmetto High and expects that she and her wealthy, laid back boyfriend Mike will become Palmetto Prince and Princess (like homecoming or prom king and queen). She has worked hard to overcome her poor white trash background to achieve her social standing and isn’t about to let Justin Balmer, of all people, stand in their way, especially after their secret shared history.

After a Saturday night party, Natalie and Mike discover a drunken J. B. in drag and take him to the church to sober him up. On impulse, Natalie ties him to a tree outside so everyone can witness his humiliation on their way to Sunday services. Unfortunately, J. B. dies overnight and slowly everything Natalie has worked so hard for unravels around her.

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Kelly Hunter giveaway winner

Congratulations to obsidiantears83, who won our giveaway of Red-Hot Renegade by Kelly Hunter. She chose Captain Thunderbolt as the renegade who would make a fantastic romance hero:

Captain Thunderbolt. Every time I drive through Uralla, in the New England ranges, I wonder what his life story was actually like, because it is so romanticsed. There is also Thunderbolt’s Boulder just outside town where he used to hide out. He was a horse theif and was arrested, did hard labour, and then his wife’s helped him escape. They became bushrangers and lived hard, mostly between the hunter valley and the new england.

Top 10 things romance oversells

Julie of Gypsy in my soul lists of some of the most unrealistic things we might encounter in romance. And she does it with love for the genre. Hilarious. (Source: @VaVeros)

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Burn Bright by Marianne de Pierres (Night Creatures, Book 1)

A lyrical, sensual and fascinating story let down by a disjointed plot and vague world building. Your mileage may vary.

There’s something seductive about the way Marianne de Pierres writes, and although I hesitated to pick this book up—not another young adult dark fantasy novel!—once I did I couldn’t put it down…until I got to the middle.

Retra escapes her closed community to search for her brother, who ran away to Ixion two years ago. It’s a mysterious place, where everyone lives for pleasure and newcomers are urged to ‘burn bright’. It’s a place where Retra, conditioned to be silent, calm and obedient, finds herself caught up in the politics and jealousies between the Ripers who promise to guard the young revellers, the various gangs in the city, the dreaded Night Creatures, and rebel factions who know that Ixion is not, after all, just about pleasure.

De Pierres sets the story up beautifully, taking the reader on the same journey as the bewildered Retra, for whom Ixion requires a complete reassessment of everything she knows (or has been taught) thus far. But as the story progresses, De Pierres falls into the common trap of keeping details thin in order to maintain various mysteries of the world she’s creating.

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