Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James

Like the games of chess that run through this series, the romances are filled with strategy, intrigue and surprise moves.

This series begins with Jemma, the Duchess of Beaumont, who returns to England from France in the late 1700s (during the Georgian period) to be with her husband, Elijah, from whom she has been estranged for several years. Elijah had what seems like a heart attack while at parliament, and he has asked Jemma to return so they can begin the process of begetting an heir, while he still can. Jemma was a well known social butterfly in Paris and had somewhat a scandalous reputation. Her return to England allows her to renew her friendships with her contemporaries—most of the other duchesses in this series—and due to her love of chess, begin a friendship with the Duke of Villiers, her husband’s ex-best friend.

The series is interspersed with several chess matches as, like chess itself, a game of intrigue, coquettishness and desire is played out between the characters of each novel. Everyone gets their happy ending, of course, but not without several machinations of their own or of others’—just like a chess game. (more)

It’s not often we get romance author signings, let alone two at the same time, so when Tracey O’Hara and Erica Hayes did a signing at Intrigue Bookstore in Canberra last month, Kate Cuthbert generously offered to do a recap for Book Thingo.

Kate is a reader, writer, reviewer, twitter-er, blogger, and starter of readers’ groups, all devoted (mainly) to romance novels. You can read her Romance Buzz newsletters at Booktopia, check out her sadly-neglected website, email her, or follow her (@katydidinoz).

Here’s a hint: showing up first thing for a signing means you get a couple of extra minutes to hang out with the authors. Of course, you’re up first thing for a signing, but as Intrigue’s sponsoring of brand new Aussie authors Tracey O’Hara and Erica Hayes started at 11am, it wasn’t that hard to pull myself out of bed. Plus I’d read both Night’s Cold Kiss and Shadowfae, loved them, and really wanted signed copies for myself. (more)

Dark Country by Bronwyn Parry

BOOK GIVEAWAY: Read on for a chance to win a free copy of Dark Country. The contest ends midnight on Friday, December 11 AEST.

Bronwyn Parry’s second novel is a much more intricate thriller that balances romance and suspense in a way that should appeal to the broadest possible audience.

Dark Country opens with Morgan ‘Gil’ Gillespie’s return to Dungirri, hinting at his troubled past and discomfort at returning to a place that holds nothing but bad memories. He’d been involved in a fatal car accident that landed him in prison, so he’s not expecting a warm welcome from the town. Along the way, he meets police sergeant Kris Matthews. Gil is wary of cops, but an incident sparked by old grievances puts him under Kris’s care for the next 24 hours.

The next day, a dead woman is found in the boot of Gil’s car, and as violence escalates, Gil realises he’s endangering the people he cares about and that it may be impossible to walk away from the town this time around. (more)

Sweet Seduction by Maya Banks (Sweet Series, Book 3)

A blend of sympathetic characters, the heroine’s emotional journey and hot fantasy sex overcome the far-fetched plot in Maya Banks’ latest erotic romance.

The drama between Nathan Tucker and Julie Stanford stems from a Big Misunderstanding: he’s so in awe of her that he can barely get 2 words out in her presence and instead comes off as uninterested. Julie is a drama queen and doesn’t accept his apparent disinterest with good grace. Oh, no, this brassy chick makes a final attempt to get Nathan’s attention by throwing in a free blow job with his back massage before telling him that she is no longer offering him her services (those of a legitimate nature, at least) and avoiding him for a week out of sheer vindictiveness and petulance. After all, why shouldn’t he know what he’s missed and keep her from being the only frustrated one?

She doesn’t feel bad about violating her professional ethics or deliberately stirring Nathan up knowing she has no intention of letting things go further and decides to exorcise her Nathan demon with an anonymous threesome at The House (more)

Decadence, who is fast becoming our author event specialist, ducked out at lunchtime last Tuesday to attend one of Diana Gabaldon’s Sydney events.

In what is sadly becoming a book signing tradition for me, I missed my train to the city and had to wait half an hour for the next one, which would hopefully still get  me to North Sydney before 1pm, but leave me right at the end of the queue.

Stanton Library is at the top of a hill I used to walk up to get to work a few years ago, so in my defence I was younger then and wasn’t carrying 6 very thick and heavy books, even if they are all mass market editions.

I had almost made it to the library when I was ushered into the neighbouring council chambers and up the stairs to their meeting room. I found a seat with a few minutes to spare before Diana arrived. I looked around and even though I’d heard about a friend’s experience in Melbourne, I was still surprised to notice that most of the crowd consisted of middle aged women. I noticed a small group of girls closer to my own age and two very brave and intrepid men. (more)

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire (October Daye, Book 1)

An urban fantasy with a heroine who kicks arse without being a try-hard and morally ambiguous secondary characters. It’s a recipe for a series addiction.

October Daye is a half human, half faerie ex-detective trying to live a normal human existence after being terribly wronged by the faerie. When an old frenemy dies, she is bound by a curse to find out who killed her and why, and avenge her death. Toby’s investigations lead to her a renewal of ties with the people of faerie, and to revisit a past she’d rather forget.

October Daye is a fantastic heroine—flawed, stubborn, angry but determined to live her own life. She kicks arse without trying so hard to do it (unlike many an urban fantasy heroine). Toby has many regrets in her life, but she doesn’t dwell on them. It’s all about moving on and not using that chip on her shoulder as an excuse to be a bad arse. She’s not a superhero, and she doesn’t even try to be. (Ah, a well done anti-heroine. I like those.) Toby tries. And she tries hard, and I barracked for her all the way, every time she fell and got up again, even when I wanted to shake her for not asking for help when she needed it. (more)

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber (Strangely Beautiful, Book 1)

An original paranormal Gothic romance for readers who love their alphas melting into a puddle and their melodrama dial set for ‘high’.

Percy Parker was raised in a convent, where she was left abandoned as a baby. At the age of 18, she is sent to the Athens Academy, a quiet, secluded place of learning in the centre of London where both men and women have the opportunity to learn and make something of themselves. (Not bad for the 19th century.) It is a tumultuous time, for the Ripper has come to the streets of London, striking fear into the hearts of everyone.

Unbeknownst to Percy and the rest of London, the Ripper is a manifestation of chaos, and the only thing that prevents him and other spirits from tormenting the city are the six guardians: Alexi, Rebecca, Michael, Elijah, Josephine and Jane, who were selected in childhood by the goddess to protect the city. Each of them has a special gift, and aside from defending London they commune on a regular basis in a chapel in Athens Academy, (more)

Source: Pink flower on stilts by avlxyz (via Flickr)

For non-Aussie readers who follow the blog, today we’re celebrating one of the biggest national events in Australia.

Melbournians are lucky enough to have a public holiday today, and are probably enjoying a champagne breakfast as you read this.

That’s right. They have a public holiday for a horse race.

You see why Australia is the best place to live in? The rest of us grumble about having to go to work, but seriously, who’s working now?

That’s what I thought.

So to celebrate Cup day, we’re running a Readers’ Sweep. Here’s how it works:

1. The first 24 people to comment here or post a reply to me on twitter (@BookThingo) are in.
2. Participants must sign up before 1pm to give me time to allocate the numbers. (more)

Twitterature by Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin

Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books Retold Through Twitter is funny. Or, as the Internet might say, funneh.

Over the years the Internet has evolved—I refrain from saying “exploded”—into many things, many of which have developed their own language. For those of us who tweet and must use only 140 characters to express ourselves, this lingo comes in handy when we need to cut things down.

Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin have used this concept and produced the Web 2.0 version of  CliffsNotes, with each book condensed into around of 2 pages of tweets (some of the more dramatic books get 2.5). While tweeting might not be your thing, the one-liners presented do a great job of condensing the main points into a few interesting lines that pretty much sum up what the book needs to say, with a bit of modern banter and some LOL, WTF, OMG along the way. (more)

Soulless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate, Book 1)

Gail Carriger’s steampunk paranormal historical romance mixes Victorian manners, werewolves and hickeys in a book that’s a little different from the average paranormal fare.

Alexia Tarabotti is a souless (literally!) spinster with a fondness for parasols, living in a Victorian London populated by supernaturals who are well organised and fully integrated into society. One day she accidentally kills a vampire, and Lord Maccon, head of the Bureau of Unnatural Registry (BUR) is compelled to investigate. (Did I mention Lord Maccon is a hot werewolf?) Alexia’s propensity to get herself into trouble—though by no real fault of her own—means that she and Lord Maccon are constantly being thrown together, with expected and unexpected results.

Soulless is what I would call a steampunk romance. There’s enough technology and innovation to constitute an exploration of that theme, and there’s enough kissing and werewolf hickeys to make it a romance. It’s a good intro to steampunk for urban fantasy readers who are looking to try it (more)