The TBR challenge for June was to read a book you bought because of the buzz about it. I picked Bone Deep for this one.

Title
Bone Deep

Author
Bonnie Dee

Year published
2006

Why did you get this book?
I’ve read several positive reviews of the book, and the premise sounded unique and interesting

Do you like the cover?
Yes, very much. I’m a fan of April Martinez’s covers.

Did you enjoy the book?
I liked it quite a bit. 4 out of 5.

Sarah Cassidy lost her husband in WWII, and has resigned herself to a life of solitude. During a visit to a travelling carnival, she is strangely drawn to the Tattooed Man in the Freak Show. When he shows up on her farm after having escaped the clutches of the carnival owner, against her better judgement, Sarah offers him a job as a handyman.Sarah is fascinated by this man who has been kept prisoner by the carnival owner since his mother’s death. But the more he reveals about his mysterious past and demonstrates his gentle nature, Sarah finds herself fighting a powerful sexual attraction.

When Tom’s presence on her farm is revealed, Sarah’s neighbors are hesitant to trust the exotic stranger in their midst. Threatened by small-town prejudice and the reappearance of the carnival owner, the lovers must rise above the fear and hate to create the family they’ve always longed for.

The pacing of the story was excellent, making it easy to read in one evening. Sarah and Tom are both memorable characters. In fact, my main complaint about the story is that I wanted more of it. I’d love to have read more scenes with Sarah and Tom–they would have made the story richer.

One part of the story had me weeping copiously. I don’t know what it is about reading books where a character has to learn to read, but when I saw Tom’s misspelled note, I burst into tears. (I had a similar reaction to reading the heroine’s poem in Megan Chance’s The Way Home.) I’m not sure why I always have such a strong reaction to scenes like this. Maybe because reading has brought me so much pleasure.

Dee does a great job of showing us who Tom is even though we don’t get any scenes from his point of view. I thought he was a wonderful beta hero.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again?
Yes and yes. In fact, I just need to decide what to get. Anyone have any recommendations with Dee’s other books?

Are you keeping it or passing it on?
Keeping it. (I bought a print copy, but I’m still keeping it.)

Anything else?
Other reviewers have commented that the ending was unrealistic as the town came to accept Tom too easily. I didn’t see it that way. I saw the ending as more optimistic than anything else, more a start of being accepted by the rest of the town rather than a complete embracing.

I’m not officially signing up for the July challenge, since I won’t have time to read or review for at least two of the four weeks. This way, if I complete it, fine, but at least I won’t go on the wall of shame if I don’t.

It’s time to admit it. I’m burned out. And really, between the day job (it’s the busy season), reviewing, writing, and blogging (for four blogs, at last count), the only surprise is that it took this long to overload. It’s mixed with a bit of depression, too. I don’t enjoy many things I found pleasure in before. I’m reading a lot of comfort reads these days and would love to spend the rest of the time sleeping. I know I’m depressed when sleeping sounds like the best thing in the world.

Anyway, the short version is that you’re likely to see me very little in the next month or two. July is particularly busy at the day job. I’ll pop in every now and then, but I’m going to stop pressuring myself to write reviews for all of the books I’ve read in the past few months. Just so you don’t forget me, though, I’ll post a few reviews in the next few weeks for upcoming books.

The last week of July I am once again attending the RWA signing, which is in Atlanta this year. You know what that means–the return of the cart. I love the collapsible cart. It was the best thing I bought for last year’s signing.

I’m also attending the conference this year, so I’ll be gone for most of that week. That also means I’ll have lots of fun stories when I return.

<------Photo from last year's signing. I'm sure I'll see you around. In the meantime, take care!

I’ve been dying to get my hands on the sequel to last year’s Kitty and The Midnight Hour. Kitty Goes to Washington takes Kitty to Washington D.C., and it’s a good follow-up story: 4 out of 5.

The country’s only celebrity werewolf, late-night radio host Kitty Norville prefers to be heard, not seen. But when she’s invited to testify at a Senate hearing on behalf of supernaturals, her face gets plastered on national TV. Kitty’s been in hot water before, but jumping into the D.C. underworld brings a new set of problems. And a new set of friends and enemies, including the vampire mistress of the city; an uber-hot Brazilian were-jaguar; and a paranoid, Bible-thumping senator who wants to expose Kitty as a monster. Kitty quickly learns that in this city of dirty politicians and backstabbing pundits, everyone’s itching for a fight.

After the events in the previous book, Kitty is on the road, still taking time to do her radio program. Then she’s summoned to Washington D.C. There, she also faces off with Senator Duke, a man whose anti-supernatural beliefs pose a serious threat. Duke was introduced in the previous book, and I thought his reappearance connected the two books nicely.

Duke isn’t the only problem Kitty encounters. She also comes up against a nosy reporter, a cult leader, and a vampire hostess whose motives for helping Kitty may not be what they seem. All of this makes Kitty Goes to Washington a fast-paced book that’s easy to read.

It’s important to note that this isn’t a romance, so if you read it expecting a HEA in the romance tradition, you won’t find that here. What you will find is a strong book showing Kitty’s continuing adventures. And yay! Cormac is back in this one. I hope he continues to appear in the upcoming books in this series. The more the better, as far as I’m concerned.

I did miss seeing Kitty’s radio show–there’s not as much of it in this book. There is an interesting development at the end that makes me curious about what’s next for Kitty. I can’t wait to find out.

Here are links to my April and May reviews for The Romance Reader:

Double Blind
Fangs But No Fangs
A Hunger Like No Other
When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys

I finished two more reviews that haven’t been posted yet. Watch for them soon.

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been reading a lot of paranormal romance lately. It’s partly because I’ve had good luck with them. The luck continues with Michelle Rowen’s Bitten & Smitten: 4 out of 5.

Dear Mom,

I might be a wee bit late for Cousin Missy’s wedding. It’s been a tough week. Turns out, my blind date from hell was literally from hell. Guy bit me. Next thing I know, I’m being chased all over the city by vampire hunters. And did I mention that I got fired, too?

Bright side–I met a man. Thierry de Bennicoeur. How great is that name? Anyway, he’s sexy, six hundred years old, and a tad suicidal, but no one’s perfect, right? And we have a deal–he’s gonna show me the ropes of the vampire world, and I’m supposed to help him end his existence. Or maybe I’ll just try to convince him life is worth living–no small challenge with the mostly immortal, let me tell you. I’ll admit it’s a complicated relationship. But with any luck, I just might have a date for that wedding after all.

Hugs and kisses,
Sarah

The back cover copy gives you a pretty good idea of the story–it’s told in first-person from Sarah’s point of view with a combination of comedy and drama. This POV works best when you like the main character, because you end up spending a lot of time with him or her. Thankfully, I liked Sarah, so it was easy to spend time with her.

On to a few other things I enjoyed about Bitten & Smitten. I liked the fact that Sarah’s initiation into vampirism isn’t smooth, and she goes through stages of acceptance. I enjoyed scenes like the one at the wedding when Sarah realizes who her cousin is really marrying. It plays out in an amusing way. And the scene with Thierry’s shard is terrific as well.

There’s a great secondary character worth mentioning, who is initially part of a love triangle. I hope he gets his own story.

A few minor points: Sarah takes charge of something (trying to avoid spoilers) at the end of the book, and it seemed a little silly that the other vampires hadn’t already considered the solution. A small nitpick, but one that jarred me. I also wanted to see more of Thierry, in more ways than one. Still, I enjoyed the book, and I’m looking forward to Rowen’s next book as well as the second book in Sarah’s series.

Kelley Armstrong is doing a book signing this weekend. The problem–it’s in Canada. So I e-mailed the store, Chapters. I’m not sure if this chain is only in Canada, but that’s beside the point. Basically I begged and pleaded to buy an autographed copy of her latest book, or really, any books they’d let me buy.

The answer? It is an in-store signing only. I could buy the book through them, but it would not be autographed. Um, since the books are available in the US, I think I’ll buy my unautographed copies here instead.

Logically, I understand their need to limit it, though I wish it were different. I guess I’ve been spoiled with bookstores like Turn the Page, Murder by the Book, and Who Else Books, all of which have been very good about letting me buy signed copies even when I can’t attend the signing. It’s probably more challenging for chain stores to accomodate these requests.

I’m still disappointed.

Harlequin does time travel with this Signature Select title, which contains stories from Julie Kenner, Nancy Warren, and Jo Leigh. After reading Perfect Timing, I’m going to try some of the upcoming time-travel Blazes.

What if the best sex you ever had was . . .

200 years ago?
After breaking off her engagement, Natalie Bowman finds herself in the 1800s being auctioned off as a sex slave! She’s even more shocked when the highest bidder is Andrew Greenwood–the fiance she dumped.

80 years ago?
Uptight Sylvia Preston is terrified when she time travels to a twenties party. But when Tucker Green gets her dirty dancing, Sylvia wants to see just how uninhibited she can be–in bed with Tucker.

60 years ago?
When history student Betty Kroger is transported to WWII, it feels right–and even more right to show sailor John Stevens what sex is like twenty-first-century style!

Julie Kenner’s “Those Were the Days” is the first story, and it’s the 80 years ago one. I liked the main characters, although I thought an extra 10 or 15 pages would have helped strengthen the connection between them. The relationship moved a little too quickly; it would have been nice to see it drawn out a little more. I liked the way Tucker put two and two together, though. 4 out of 5.

“Pistols at Dawn” is the 200 years ago story, and it’s by Nancy Warren. Usually I love Warren’s stories. This one I liked. Again, I think it was a space issue. I didn’t know the characters enough to feel much when they broke up, which made their reunion less powerful than it could have been. I did enjoy watching them reconnect, though. 3.5 out of 5.

Jo Leigh’s “Time After Time” is the best story in the anthology. Betty and John’s relationship unfolds naturally, and Leigh does a wonderful job of showing the immediate attraction and making it real. John’s post-war issues seemed especially realistic. The love scenes were excellent, and I loved the final scene before the epilogue. 4.5 out of 5.

The ultimate rating for Perfect Timing: 4 out of 5.

Why I got so little sleep last Thursday.

The lesson I learned? Do not start one of Kelley Armstrong’s novels unless it’s the weekend or I have plenty of time to read. Starting one of her books at 9:00 PM is a very, very bad idea.

I’ve now read Dime Store Magic, and will move on to the next one. I’m really trying to space these out a little, but I’m not sure I have enough willpower to last long. I’ll probably do a blog entry once I finish all the books.