REVIEW: A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara

Disclaimer:  I received my copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

Ashlyn Macnamara’s smart and sexy debut is a pleasure to read and should earn her place in the annals of talented historical romance authors.

Benedict Revelstoke is shocked, no alarmed to find his childhood friend, Miss Julia St. Clare, the object of a wager in the infamous betting book at White’s.  As if the bet itself wasn’t outrageous enough, the wager’s been placed by the man who hopes to land Julia. The same man that Julia’s sister, Sophia, finds herself desperately in love with--William Ludlowe.  When Benedict learns that Julia means to accept Ludlowe’s suit because of a misguided notion, he makes a practical counter offer.

This story has been touted as a take on Sense and Sensibility and I can certainly see the parallels: one eminently sensible sister, the other in love with being in love and an utter cad coming between them. Being a Janeite, I was very excited to read a variation on Austen's theme.  But in my mind, this story is extremely original, even with its nod to Austen, in its realistic portrayal of all the characters’ circumstances and emotional reactions to said circumstances.  Julia’s desire to please her parents, to sacrifice herself to Ludlowe in order to save Sophia from unrequited affection and to settle herself into the unhappy life she thinks she deserves, all ring true.  Macnamara’s talent with language and her deft turn of phrase will have you eagerly re-reading passages.  Though Sophia’s story arc takes a few twists and turns and I did find myself wanting to strike her with a heavy object from time to time, things settle on a very satisfying note. Throughout Sophia’s storyline, her emotions and reactions show her to be a layered and textured character.

Usually I take a few turns with the hero, just to get their measure, both physically and mentally, but Benedict is so finely written that I could picture him in my mind from the beginning and he only rose in my estimation with each page.  Even when the characters reach a turning point, I couldn’t help cheering for them because they were so “real” and behaved like people instead of clichéd, cookie-cutter, tried-and-true characters.  That is a feat not easily achieved and Macnamara does it with aplomb.  Plus the sensuality and passion of this piece is smoothly done, especially in a friends-to-lovers piece where things can sometime seem awkward in that transition. 

Do yourself a favor and visit the author's site.  She's a wealth of information on Regency times and customs and it shows in her writing.  I absolutely adore books that entertain and teach me something at the same time.  The hot and sexy book trailer for A MOST SCANDALOUS PROPOSAL is just a bonus for visiting there :-).

I highly recommend this book and can’t wait for this author’s next book.

Postcard from the fringe

Happy New Year! Ha, bet you didn't expect that did you?  Well, things have been kinda crazy 'round these parts which means I'm probably the mayor of Crazytown. It was Mardi Gras earlier this week and I managed to survive being away yet ANOTHER year :(.  Could be worse, right? I could've been trapped in Connecticut with that 40 inches of snow, so I won't complain out loud.  But don't worry too much--I kept it interesting on Tuesday by saying "hey mister, THROW me something" at random times during the day.  It's the small things that make me happy :)

Speaking of things that make me happy, I thought I'd share a picture of the flowers my godchild gave me for my birthday.

I'll come back later to post something more interesting, relevant, funny, writing-related, whatever...

Enjoy your day!

TWELVE MORE DAYS! or The First Day of a Doctor Who Christmas

Now that the Doctor has said goodbye to his beloved Ponds, there's a new companion on the horizon.  Here's my alternative to a partridge in a pear tree--a "mini-sode" of the Christmas Special:



How cool was that?? The new companion, Clara Oswin, last seen as Oswin Oswald, techie genius and failed soufflé-maker, was trapped inside a Dalek. Hopefully the Christmas special will explain how one morphs into the other.

I'm really excited for this year's special since a new villain emerges to menace society and drag the Doctor out of his doldrums.  PLUS PLUS, there's a new Cybermen episode penned by Himself, Neil Gaiman, on the horizon.  You know I'll be all over that, so stay tuned.  I might have to come up with some swag for those brave enough to listen to my ramblings until the Christmas special airs.  So watch this space, as the saying goes.

Tell me, are you excited to see the new companion or will you pine for the Ponds?

Review: THE PRINCE by Tiffany Reisz

I read a lot of books.  A LOT. Today, instead of just posting the title of my latest read in the On My Nightstand column, I'm going to tell you (without spoilers, sorry darlings!) what I thought of the latest work from one of my favorite new authors, Tiffany Reisz. So, what follows is my review of THE PRINCE, the latest release in her Original Sinners series. ALSO, disclaimer, I received my copy of THE PRINCE from NetGalley gratis, in exchange for a review but that's not going to stop me from telling you about the awesome that is this book.  So here goes:

THE PRINCE is the latest release in Tiffany Reisz's Original Sinners series and I can hardly believe how much more enamored I am with the characters and story with each subsequent book. Instead of the fatigue that sometimes comes along with characters and storylines where you wonder where else the author could plausibly lead you, this series get more and more fascinating with each layer that's peeled back. Even though the Original Sinners might be classified as BDSM because of the lifestyles portrayed, I've found them to be very sensual rather than explicit.

THE SIREN introduced our cast, characters sprung masterfully and fully formed like Athena from the forehead of Zeus. Each book has focused on one or two characters in this beautiful tapestry of  lives lived on the edge. THE ANGEL gave us more insight into the history of our beloved sinners and with THE PRINCE, things get really juicy. The prince referred to in the title could be Father Stearns, Jesuit priest and prince of the church. Or it could be Wes Railey, Nora's darling precocious roommate, earlier revealed to be the sole heir to a wealthy southern horse racing dynasty and aptly nicknamed The Prince of Kentucky. Or it could be Kingsley Edge, the machiavellian prince of New York's underground scene, whose history with Nora Sutherlin and Soren seems to be key in all the books.

We learn how Soren and Kingsley met and the story flashes between their past and a threat from that time, brought out in the present. Nora is given Soren's blessing to reunite with Wesley and we see our favorite writer out of her element but still maintaining control. There is also an unnamed, unseen threat to the three principals resurrected from Soren and Kingsley's past casting a shadow over the proceedings.

I don't want to give too much away except to say that THE PRINCE deals with the beginnings of our characters relationships. I stress the word relationships, instead of friendships and acquaintances, though those are there too but it's the relationships that entangled them together which will keep you reading. Ms. Reisz has once again proven that she's a formidable, sophisticated talent able to blend elements of romance, mystery,suspense, sensuality and pathos. Very literary and  I think she's well on her way to being the Henry James of her era.

  So, if you can get your hands on a copy of THE PRINCE, please do.  This is a must read.

What's on your nightstand??  I'm tackling Sharon Shinn's THE SHAPE OF DESIRE when I should be writing ;-).

NaNoWriMo Mike Check

It’s day 16 of National Novel Writing Month and I wanted to check in with my fellow NaNo-ers. Some of us are gleefully getting words down on the page at an alarming rate while others are struggling but managing to make it. To those folks I want to say GREAT JOB! Keep up the good work! You’ll get there!

However, the rest of this post is for those who find this month stressful to the point of nausea and their already tenuous wordcount, stifled.  Those who write the words, then delete those same words.  To you, I want to say, cut it out. Stop making yourself mental. Get the words out on paper because you can, and should, go back to edit them later.  Get all the ingredients for your fabulous soufflé of a book out on the counter with the cookbook picture of what it’s suppose to look like and start whisking.  You can’t tell that story to the masses if its trapped inside your grey matter and not written on a napkin or a file somewhere.  Just breathe, give yourself permission to write--little by little, word by word, sentence on sentence.  Watch how quickly things add up.

I know it’s hard to commit to this month’s rigorous pace but there’s loads of help to keep or get you back on track.  My latest lifeline was thrown from an article in PW, 5 Writing Tips from Chelsea Cain. Ms. Cain is the author of the Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell crime thriller books.  The series has been compared to RED DRAGON with serial killer Gretchen Lowell likened to Hannibal Lecter, and I can see how that might be the easy similarity.  A detective (Sheridan) visits a serial killer in jail (Lowell) but for me, their relationship is very different than the Lecter/Clarice Starling relationship.  Gretchen Lowell kidnapped and tortured Det. Sheridan for ten days and then, for reasons unknown, let him go and turned herself in.  Wow, right? I couldn’t WAIT to read the book when I saw the description.  Anyway, I’m getting off track here because I want to point those who’re struggling, in the direction of Ms. Cain’s excellent article on writing.   Take a look and see all the common sense awesome she shares.  Go ahead, I’ll wait here for you.

So, to recap—you have to write EVEN WHEN YOU DON’T WANT TO, so just get your butt in a chair and do it. You have to write THINGS THAT MIGHT SEEM CLICHÉ because really, everything under the sun has probably been done somewhere so don’t let that stop you. You have to write WHEN YOUR CHARACTERS ARE ACTING ALL CRAZY AND TRYING TO BOSS YOU AROUND, so let the voices in your head know that you’re the one in control.  You have to write THE SCENES THAT ARE UNCOMFORTABLE FOR YOU because your best work sometimes comes from the things that are difficult.  You have to write AND STICK TO THE DETAILS RELEVANT TO THAT PASSAGE because no one wants to read about a girl running from a killer who gets caught and murdered because she suddenly notices the lovely red dress in the shop window she just sprinted by.  So, lesson learned today?

You have to write.

Culture Clashes and This and That

Happy Halloween!



I thought a little Feist singing Graveyard might get us in the mood.

One of my favorite holidays is here and I'm excited to see what ghouls and goblins show up at my door, begging for treats.  My own offspring both left for school this morning dressed in costume. The Sweetpea is rocking the Back to The Future Marty McFly look while the Snugglebunny is the epitome of villainy as Dr. Horrible, crazy goggles and all. It's amazing to see all the little kids (and big ones too) dressed up, roaming the streets, going to school and getting on the subway. My neighborhood goes all out with some of the decorations and displays, even making the local evening news on a regular basis with their smoke machines, ghosts, goblins, graveyards and giant spiders.

I don't have the numbers but I'm sure that Halloween is an "industry" as they say in the financial circles (no they don't--I have no IDEA what they say in those circles since I'm sure I'm banned from them but I can guess) because the whole country celebrates. So, imagine my jingoistic surprise to learn that outside the US and perhaps, North America, Halloween is not really a big deal.  Unless of course, you count China where most of our cheezy costumes and accessories come from.  But as a celebration?  No, not so much.

That made me think of differences that might be mainly due to cultural issues or simple proximity.  Do my friends in Switzerland not dress up and go bang on their neighbors' doors demanding candy because, why exactly? Did we exclude Switzerland from all the benefits of Halloween, even the idea that it originated as a celebration before All Hallow's Eve (Samhain)?  Really, you folks need to get on that right away.  FREE CANDY! I'm just saying.

But you know, sometimes the similarity in cultural norms between completely divergent groups is amazing.  My virtual, pretend BFF and favorite gossip maven, Lainey, reported this item about Benedict Cumberbatch's Crime Thriller win in London where the trophy was a knife. That raised a memory from my own long ago bridal shower.  My friend John, in a touching show of friendship, bought me a gift that showed that he shopped for the present instead of just kicking in some cash and leaving the heavy lifting to the womenfolk.  I know he shopped for it because at the shower, he milled around, waiting for me to get to his gift unlike the rest of the attendees who were boozing it up by that time and feeling like their obligation to watch me open gifts came to an end the minute the mimosas came out. I opened J's gift, gasped and I'm sure my eyes widened.

"What? Do you already have a set?" asked John. "I didn't see them on your registry so I thought you might already have them."

"No. Thank you." I managed to stutter but frankly, I had been shocked because John had bought me a pair of knives.

Beautiful, sharp carving knives, but knives. If my dearly departed grandma had been present, there might have been a little bit more of a scene because she'd taught me, from the time I was a little girl, that you didn't give knives as gifts. Giving knives meant you wanted to sever the friendship or to cut ties with someone or just that it was bad luck.  I heard variations of all three reasons growing up. But was I going to let my own family's superstitions overrule my good sense by hurting my friend's feelings for his thoughtful gift?

I'm happy to say that John and I are still friends, I'm still married to the same groom and I can't think of anything specific or awful that happened as a result of those knives, which I still own.  So, I guess that sometimes superstitions are just that--superstitious.

What family/cultural superstitions do you still hold to or have you found to be ridiculous?  I still can't walk on the street/subway grates and black cats crossing from the left...

Happy Friday

Things have been BUSY, my friends, and to make up for neglecting you here for so long, I thought I'd share Grace Potter's (usually with the Nocturnals) song STARS which serves multiple purposes in its beauty--pleasure, inspiration and reflection:


Early pages of Book One made the finalists list of the RWA's Kiss of Death chapter Daphne Du Maurier Contest for Unpublished writers and landed Honorable Mention accolades for me. Was I sad at not winning? Of course! Those who know me can see my competitive streak, plastered across my forehead like a tattoo ;-). Remember when I wrote this? Also, the winner of my category took the overall winner's prize, so things must have been tight down in paranormal town. BUT, I'm thrilled to have made it to the last five standing and console myself with thoughts of being just a little bit closer to my goals. Fingers crossed that if I continue to work hard, things will work out fine, as the song says. Happy Friday!