My personal TBR challenge in November has been to read my review books and other books I started but hadn’t finished. I picked up Jacob’s Faith by Lora Leigh several times this month and finished it yesterday: 3.5 out of 5.

1. Title/Author
Jacob’s Faith by Lora Leigh.

2. Brief Synopsis
I’m too tired to write one. This is from the back cover.

They are a new breed, a new race. Engineered rather than born, trained rather than raised, and their unique genetics have created more than one surprise . . .

Jacob left Faith six years before, unaware that the mark he left on her also left her in an agony of sexual heat that never dimmed. Now Jacob and Faith are together again, but surprises lurk around every corner and dangers as dark and deadly as their very creation surround them in more ways than one.

3. Copyright Year
2003.

4. Indicate if you liked or disliked it?
I had a hard time getting into it; I don’t know how many times I picked it up, read a chapter or two, and put it back down. Part of that is probably the fact that I’ve been a bit distracted this month.

Still, I think part of it is the story itself. Jacob and Faith cover the same territory for a lot of the middle part of the book. He doesn’t believe he can love, while she demands it, they have sex, repeat. This section is where I kept putting the book down. It improves toward the end of the story.

In the end, though, I liked it enough to look for the next book in the series (see number 8 below).

5. Was the book designated a DIK or Five Heart book at any of the review sites?
Not sure.

6. Do you agree or disagree with the reviewers?
Not applicable.

7. Is this a new author for you?
No. I read her short story in Hot Spell.

8. Would you read more by this author?
Yes. The epilogue hooked me, even as I recognized it as a hook into the next book. In this case, it worked.

Here are links to my November reviews at The Romance Reader:

Heart of the Dragon
Really Unusual Bad Boys

I wrote another one this month but it hasn’t been posted yet.

Knock Me Off My Feet is the third book I’ve read by Susan Donovan. I liked the previous two (Take a Chance on Me and He Loves Lucy), and I was unsurprised and pleased that I liked this one as well: 4 out of 5.

Audie Adams has been targeted by a stalker who is familiar with her TV personality as Homey Helen, and who also seems to know her personally. When the letters Audie receives become threatening, the police step in to provide protection. Enter Detective Stacey Quinn, the man who protects her and falls in love with her in the process.

One thing I like about Donovan’s stories is that her characters always feel unique and real. She isn’t a writer who recycles characters–at least, not in the books I’ve read. There is always humor threaded through her stories as well. Knock Me Off My Feet provides both of these things.

Audie is no perfect homemaker (and I can relate to that!), she just plays one on TV. I like the way Donovan portrayed how her uncaring family affects her belief that no one can love her. It felt very real to me.

As for Stacey, I love the fact that he is not a conventional hero. OK, he goes in to heavy-duty protective mode, and that’s nothing new for a hero. But at first he thinks Audie herself is behind the letters. I was also impressed with his freckle-covered body. That’s unique for a romance hero.

What I didn’t like: I thought the stalker was a bit over the top, but the romance itself was terrific.

I have one more of Donovan’s books, Public Displays of Affection, and I’m going to save it for when I need to get out of another book slump.

I knew I had a lot of scrapbooking supplies, but I didn’t realize how many I had until I started trying to put them into some kind of order. I had to buy a second filing cart for my 12 x 12 paper, and I imagine I will be organizing stickers and die-cuts into the next century. If I’m lucky.

I discovered something a bit more disturbing last week. I tend not to watch the news, so I don’t always learn about things right when they happen. So this week, I’m eating lunch with my coworkers and they mention the new thing with credit cards that will increase payments in January. To say that this is disturbing is an understatement. I understand that it will help people get out of debt, but it will be problematic for me.

Good thing I have cut back on book buying sprees.

So it looks like I will be stepping up my candle business a bit and trying to come up with other ways to earn money. I don’t want to take a part-time job, but I might have to consider it depending on how high payments go. I absolutely must have my garage sale next spring. Not only will it bring in a little money, it will also help with the clutter.

Anyone want to buy any candles? LOL!

Enough of that for now. My good news: my 2005 NaNoWriMo entry is more or less complete at 50, 111 words. If I want to do something with it, it would need a lot of revision, but I’m still enjoying the fact that I met the goal. Yay!

I had a lovely Thanksgiving and am now going to bed to collapse. First, though, I wanted to mention that I am a participant in a discussion about erotic romance at Romancing the Blog. There are two parts of the discussion, and they will be posted on Friday (tomorrow) and Saturday. Three other readers participated, and I think the resulting discussion is interesting. Hope you’ll stop in and check it out.

My blog images are back! Well, mostly. I ended up having to transfer them again using FTP, and there are some I haven’t transferred yet. But at least my blog has stopped looking like a big blank screen with red Xs where the images should be. I’ll get the rest transferred this weekend, I hope.

I’m closing in on my 50,000-word NaNoWriMo goal; I’m at 45,596 words and counting. I will probably get a fair amount of writing in tomorrow as well. I’m having a hard time imagining life post-NaNo, simply because I’ve gotten into a routine. However, my housecleaning will probably improve immensely.

This month’s TBR challenge has been to read review books and to finish books I started in the past. I’m not doing so well with either goal. I’m in a reading slump, it seems. I’ve picked up half a dozen books in the past week, read a few chapters, then set them down again. I think it’s me. I just haven’t been sure what I’m in the mood for. I am about halfway through Susan Donovan’s Knock Me Off My Feet, and I’m optimistic that I will finish this one, even though it isn’t a review or a previously started book. Oh well, at this point, I will be grateful to finish something.

Tomorrow I will be enjoying Thanksgiving holiday with my family. If you’re celebrating it, hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend!

I couldn’t resist this one, which I saw on Larissa’s blog.

Numenorean

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

I’ve been looking at lists of books that are coming out early next year, and I’m asking myself: Do I buy the ones I want when they come out? Or do I wait and get them at next year’s RWA signing? I haven’t actually made a decision about next year’s RWA signing, but this seems like a good time to decide.

Last year, I decided that holding off on buying books would be a good way to work on my TBR pile. It didn’t work. I still bought some books, and my TBR list kept growing. It exploded after the RWA signing, too. At this point, I think I could easily not buy another book and still have reading material for two years.

So, I’ve decided to get serious about this. I’m going to cut down on the books I buy and save the money for the RWA trip. This means I’ll be turning to the library for more books, or attempting to trade for them through my trading group. And I’ll be reading from my TBR pile.

I’ll also be cutting down on my trips to the used bookstore. I love going, and I enjoy finding books for other people in the trading group. But I keep using up all of my credit finding books for others, so I’m going to cut back both on trips and on buying for others.

As for upcoming book signings, I learned that Carrie Vaughn will be signing in Denver on December 4. Driving would take almost eight hours, so that’s out. The flight is more money than I want to spend right now. So I’m planning to check out last-minute flights as the day approaches to see what I can find. I’m not sure if I’ll make the trip or not, but it’s fun to think about it.

There is a nearby multiauthor signing in February, so I’m definitely planning to attend. I’m not sure if there are enough authors to warrant an appearance of the cart, but I have plenty of time to decide.

I’m vexed with my online image host at the moment. None of my images are coming up. Hope they get it fixed while I still remember what my blog is supposed to look like. Edited to add: Apparently I need to update my FTP since I upgraded my account. It would help if the instructions were in something resembling comprehensible English. Wish me luck . . .

Now, on to happier topics. Today I read Sylvia Day’s Snaring the Huntress, and it was another wonderful read. Some authors write beautiful short stories, and Day is obviously one who does: 4 out of 5.

Star is a judge, sent to find an ambassador who broke Interstellar Council Law. When she finds Roark, she discovers that he is the lover who has been haunting her dreams.

This is a short story, so I don’t want to say anything more about the plot. However, it’s terrific. Snaring the Huntress sets up the world of the story and creates a believable romance. I loved the touches of humor, such as at the end of chapter 1. Once again, I don’t want to give anything away, but there are a number of moments in the story that make me smile.

The resolution seems a little too easy, but the rest of the story definitely makes up for it.

It isn’t often that I recommend books to my friends and coworkers. Most of them are not romance readers. But Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty and The Midnight Hour is so good that I’m planning not only to recommend it but to give it away to a few people as Christmas presents. This is one of the best books I’ve read all year: 5 out of 5.

Kitty Norville is a late-night DJ. One night, she decides to take a few calls from people, and she ends up chatting about the world of vampires and werewolves. When the show’s ratings spike, Kitty starts a new show, The Midnight Hour, where the supernatural can call for advice.

The problem is that not everyone loves her show. Kitty, a werewolf, owes allegiance to Carl, the leader of a local pack, and he isn’t thrilled about the program. The leader of a vampire family is also displeased, since he thinks Kitty’s show brings to much attention to the supernatural. So someone hires a werewolf hunter to kill Kitty.

I won’t say how Kitty escapes. Instead, I’ll focus on the things I like about the book. Kitty is terrific. The story is told from her point of view, and she’s a fascinating character. The pacing of the story is wonderful; it kept me engrossed in the story. I read it in one sitting. I like the radio show angle. It allows for interesting interaction between characters, and it also gives Vaughn a way to show world-building without getting bogged down in description.

There is a suggestion of romance between Kitty and another character. It’s left largely unexplored, but this is the first book in a series. The rest of the story was so good that I didn’t mind. I do hope this character is brought back in future stories. I’d love to learn more about him.

If you like paranormal romance or paranormal in general, you’re likely to enjoy Kitty and The Midnight Hour.