Harlequin Temptation, how I miss you. These days I turn to the Harlequin Blaze line for a sexy, fun read, but I loved Temptation while it lasted. So one of the books from this line was a natural choice for the TBR challenge. This month’s TBR theme is the ugly duckling. Leslie Kelly’s Make Me Over doesn’t really qualify, but I figure the makeover theme is close enough.

Professor Drew Bennett is thrilled when he learns he’ll get the chance to promote his latest book, Beyond Eliza Doolittle, on national television . . . even if it means getting involved in reality TV. But still, how hard can it be? All he has to do is turn five country bumpkins into ladies. Too bad Drew doesn’t know that he’s the prize . . .

Tori Lyons only agreed to embarrass herself in front of a nationwide audience in order to fulfill a not-quite deathbed promise. But she’s going to be the first to leave–she’ll make sure of it. But that’s before she falls head over heels in love with the sexy professor. And realizes that if she plays the game right, Drew’s heart is the one thing she can’t possibly win. . . .

Make Me Over has a copyright date of 2004, and I’m pretty sure I’ve had it since then. Leslie Kelly is an author I’ve enjoyed before, so I figured it would be a good read. I was right.

I’ve said before that Kelly has a talent for creating vivid and interesting characters, and that’s true in this book. I found myself really liking Tori and rooting for her, despite her . . . shall we say, colorful language.

The plot itself was a bit predictable. You can probably guess it too just from the blurb on the back cover. I have to admit that I’m not too interested in reality TV, so I wasn’t all that interested in the twists and turns of the TV show. And the result of the show . . . well, I know it is supposed to be funny and cute and statement making, but I just found it corny.

So here’s the thing: I enjoyed the story when it focused on Tori and Drew. Not so much when the reality show took center stage. Because of the dramatic difference in my enjoyment level depending on which part of the book I was reading, I’m struggling on putting a rating on it, but I’d probably give it a 3.5 out of 5.

A new year, a new TBR challenge: here we go!

This month’s challenge is to read and review a category romance. I chose When the Lights Go Down by Heidi Betts. The copyright is 2005, and I’ve had it a while. Not sure why I picked it up; I suspect it was because of a positive review somewhere, because it doesn’t seem like the kind of book I’d pick up otherwise.

Today is Gwen Thomas’s 31st birthday. She’s given herself T-minus 24 hours to change her life.

8:00 a.m.: Call out sick from library.

8:01 a.m.: Scour phone book for Emergency Beauty Technicians.

10:00-Noon: Hair. Goodbye, mousy. Hello, auburn.

Noon-5:00 p.m.: Nails. Makeup. Clothes. Be bold!

10:00 p.m.: Arrive at The Hot Spot. Pretend you’ve gone clubbing before.

11:00 p.m.: Fight polyester lizard’s advances–and the disappointment of a failed mission.

11:30 p.m.: Revel in being rescued by Ethan banks. Don’t let the sexy club owner’s chivalry prevent mission completion.

When the lights go down: Lose virginity . . . finally.

When the Lights Go Down is a bit of a fairy tale. I’ve said it before—I don’t read romance expecting complete realism, but this book had a significant lack of it. The main problem is Gwen. She’s not easy to relate to from the beginning. It’s not that she has negative qualities like she’s judgmental or bitchy. It’s that her motivations are not well explained. She wants to lose her virginity because she’s turned 31. Really? There’s no buildup; it seems like she just woke up one morning and made the decision. OK . . .

Then, there’s the way she goes about it. She heads to a nightclub (owned by Ethan) and heads out with a creepy polyester-wearing guy. This does not speak well of her judgment. Luckily for her, Ethan intervenes. Gwen then goes home with him. The sizzling sex between them is the best part of the book and the thing that kept me reading.

Gwen falls for Ethan pretty quickly, but somehow decides that her life as a single librarian isn’t interesting enough to keep Ethan’s interest. So she refuses to let Ethan come to her home and see all her cat figurines (I’m not joking), and she tells him that she’s a fashion buyer.

Ethan is a little on the too-good-to-be-true side. He owns a nightclub, picks up women while there, but falls for Gwen. Plus he doesn’t really mind when he finds out that she’s been lying to him.

As you can see, I had some problems with the book, but it was a quick, light read as long as it’s not taken too seriously. When the Lights Go Down: 2.5 out of 5.

The Bespelled by Austen anthology is the second book I read on my new Kobo. (Yippee! Still loving this.) Since I love Jane Austen, it was an obvious choice when I was offered a free review copy. I liked it, but not as much as I hoped.

What if Austen had believed in reincarnation and vampires? Join four bestselling romance authors as they channel the wit and wisdom of Jane Austen.

Almost Persuaded In this Regency tale of Robert and Jane, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh brings together former lovers who have seen beyond the veil of forgetfulness to their past mistakes, and are determined to be together in this life, and forever.

Northanger Castle Caroline’s obsession with Gothic novels winds up being good training for a lifetime of destroying the undead with her newfound beau, in this Regency by Colleen Gleason.

Blood and Prejudice Set in the business world of contemporary New York City, Liz Bennett joins Mr. Darcy in his hunt for a vampire cure in New York Times bestselling author Susan Krinard’s version of the classic story.

Little to Hex Her Present-day Washington, D.C., is full of curious creatures in Janet Mullany’s story, wherein Emma is a witch with a wizard boyfriend and a paranormal dating service to run.

Almost Persuaded is the story I was most excited to read. I felt there was a little too much reliance on the connection from the past lives, as this was discussed frequently in their conversation. A longer story with more time to develop the romance in this life could have added a lot.

Northanger Castle was both interesting and frustrating. The heroine did a lot of speculating about the people around her based on the books she read, which was a big part of Northanger Abbey. I must admit I found it frustrating in the Austen story, so it’s no surprise that I struggled with it here. I love the way the story played out, though. Would have loved more time to strengthen the romance.

Blood and Prejudice was the weakest story of the anthology. It stuck to the original story a bit too closely, and used much of Austen’s dialogue for Darcy. Yes, Darcy has been a vampire for two hundred years, but his formal language combined with Elizabeth’s modern lingo seemed rather jarring. Unlike the other stories, which could have benefited from a longer page count, Blood and Prejudice went on a bit too long. I have to wonder if my familiarity with the original story kept me from enjoying this one more. I’d love to hear from someone who read this who hasn’t read Pride & Prejudice.

Little to Hex Her was a charming story. This one followed the plot of Emma quite closely but gave it a enough of a twist to make it fun. I loved the matchmaking element—it was perfect for Emma. This story was a lovely way to close the anthology. I don’t agree with her thoughts about Knightley, though.

All in all, Bespelled by Austen was worth reading, but I don’t think I’ll go back to it: 3 out of 5.

I decided to jump in and participate in December’s TBR challenge as a warm-up for next year. The challenge is to read and write about a contemporary romance. I chose Suzanne Macpherson’s She Woke Up Married. It has a 2005 copyright date, and I got it at a writing conference in 2005 or 2006, so it’s been in the TBR for a while.

Paris James has come to Las Vegas to take the sting off turning the dreaded “Three-O.” But one glass of bubbly leads to another—and when the redhead wakes up the next morning, she finds to her astonishment she’s in bed with . . . Elvis! The good news it’s the young, sexy Elvis. The bad news is there’s a diamond ring on her finger. Sometime during the evening, she actually married The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll! Well, what happened in Vegas better stay in Vegas, right?

But not if Turner Pruitt has anything to say about it. Because years before he put on his first pair of blue suede shoes, Turner knew the real Paris . . . She’s running away, as usual, but he knows her deepest secrets, and as much as she struggles against love, Paris is going to need him by her side as she faces her demons head-on. Because this time, Paris James has met her match.

It’s a staple of fiction for at least one of the main characters to undergo a transformation throughout the novel. However, it helps if that character is likeable to begin with, so that the reader wants to go along on the journey. That wasn’t true for Paris. She’s self-absorbed and moody, and those are just a few of her unattractive qualities. I had no idea why Turner was in love with her. He knew her from high school, and after their night of drunken passion, he decides he wants to stay married to her. Um . . . OK.

Turner has his own eccentricities. He is a reverend (which seems to consist mainly of counseling and marrying couples in a wedding chapel), an excellent singer, and his favorite musical is Mamma Mia. Yes, this book is a comedy, but I still found this to be a little weird.

Anyway, Paris turns up pregnant, so she leaves her life as a model in New York and goes to live with Turner in Vegas. Her plan is to have the child, put it up for adoption, and resume her modeling career. Turner, of course, has other plans.

Don’t get me wrong. She Woke Up Married was a quick read. But the humor simply wasn’t to my taste, and I thought the situation resolved far too predictably.

I’m pleased to have read one of my TBR books, but it wasn’t one of the better ones I’ve read. She Woke Up Married: 2 out of 5.

Made my first e-book purchase from Borders today. I decided to download Elizabeth Hoyt’s The Ice Princess. I looked around at other books as well. I wish e-books were cheaper in general. I’d love to get some more, but I’m going to look for sales.

After five years of reading e-books and four years of having an e-book published, I finally got an e-reader.

I’ve had it for a few days, and I really like it. It’s light, easy to use, and I’ve been getting a lot of use out of it. I’m finally reading many of the e-books I’ve had but just never got around to reading because I didn’t want to read them on the computer.

It’s not going to replace print books for me, but it’s a nice supplement. I’m using it a lot right now because it’s new, so I’ll be curious to know how much I use it six months from now.

I’ve been listening to Lisa Kleypas’s Hathaway series on audiobook. My current “listen” is Mine Till Midnight, which really doesn’t match the book. My hunch is that an ARC was used as a script for the audio; then the book—and one character in particular—was revised/added to before publication. I’m now on CD five of eight, so I’m interested to see how the differences will continue.

I’m a bit familiar with this phenomenon as I’ve heard it before on one of the In Death audios—I believe it was Survivor in Death. The changes didn’t seem as extreme, however.

When I started this blog, I was leaving my historical romance comfort zone and checking out new authors. Now, I’ve returned to historical romance and am (for the most part) sticking with my tried-and-true favorite authors.

Go figure.

My Lisa Kleypas marathon continued with Married by Morning and Love in the Afternoon. Enjoyed them both but really loved the latter. Since I’ve reread it already and have been listening to the audiobook in the car, it’s safe to call it a keeper: 5 out of 5.

I love books with letters in them, and this one doesn’t disappoint in that regard. The letters Christopher and Beatrix exchange are delightful and real. Really, the only quibble I have with the book is that I do NOT advise holding a dog’s muzzle closed to teach him not to bite. Dog training has come a long way since the 1800s.

I have some contemporary romances waiting for me to read: the latest by Erin McCarthy and Rachel Gibson, among others. But I can’t bring myself to leave the realm of historical romance, so they will sit a bit longer.

As for what I’m doing with my time these days . . . a lot of scrapbooking, some decluttering (I’m actually letting go of some books!), and I spend a bit of time with my pups.

It’s good fun, but I’ll continue to post here when I have something to say.

I haven’t read a book in a month or so until this one: Unanswered Cries by Thomas French. Before this, I’d hit a new low when it came to reading. I have been reading—but it’s been mostly scrapbooking magazines with the occasional graphic novel thrown in. Then I saw an episode of American Justice and decided to try a book about the case. Thank you, Paperback Swap.

On a warm Florida evening, Karen Gregory saw a familiar face at her door. What the beautiful young woman could not know was that she was staring into the eyes of her killer—a savage monster who would rape her, stab her to death, and leave her battered body on the floor outside the bedroom.

Detectives frantically sifting through the evidence were tormented by one disturbing question after another: what did the strangely worded note from a friend mean? Why was the house so orderly, when it had been the scene of a frenzied struggle? Why were the bloody footprints on the carpet barefoot? What happened to the white lace teddy missing from Karen’s drawer?

Police detective Larry Tosi stayed up nights watching the video of the grisly crime scene, looking for that one telltale clue that would lead him to Karen’s killer—until slowly, and with growing horror, he realized that the maniac he was hunting was someone he knew . . . someone he called a friend.

This book ended up being the perfect anecdote to my writing ennui. The case itself offers a number of intriguing twists—the initial challenge to pin down a suspect; then the growing suspicion of the primary investigator that the murderer was someone he knew.

But these elements simply add to an already strong read. French delves into the lives of everyone involved in the case: the victim’s family and loved ones, the investigators, the accused, the lawyers, and the jury. It’s rare to find a true-crime book where all of the people are so vividly and movingly portrayed. It is a devastating depiction of the results one act by one man can cause in the lives of so many.

I liked the episode of American Justice about this case. Obviously it was interesting enough to make me seek out the book. Unanswered Cries offers a fuller picture of the case, one well worth reading. I couldn’t put it down.

If there is anything negative to say, it’s this—I can’t find any other true-crime books by this author. Unanswered Cries: 4.5 out of 5.

Why do I do this? I buy books I’m sure I will like, and then I let them sit on the TBR for months (or more). Such was the fate of HelenKay Dimon’s Holding Out for a Hero. Wendy’s review made me think I should pick it up.

Deana Armstrong needs a hero—not for herself, but for the nephew all her money and time can’t seem to get out of jail. Unfortunately, the best hero in all the Hawaiian Islands is set on turning in his badge and getting his excellent butt into another line of work. If that wasn’t enough, Josh Windsor also has a big-time grudge against Deana herself. But if there’s anything being rich, smart, and stubborn has taught Deana, it’s never to settle for second best . . .

Josh has had it with saving people. He’s had it with getting hauled into court. And boy, has he ever had it with Deana. Or well, he hasn’t  had it. Yet. But the more she pops up sounding infuriating and looking good enough to eat, the more her hot bod and her cold case wriggle into his mind. And there’s only so much even a hero can resist . . .

Hmm, where to start? I could start with the cover, which is amazing. LOVE it. And I’m happy to stay the story inside is just as incredible. I tend to read romances for heroes, and Josh definitely doesn’t let me down. He’s both honorable and hot—what’s not to like? And Deana is a fully developed character in her own right.

Holding Out for a Hero is a fine example of Dimon’s trademark witty dialogue and sizzling romance, but it has a few other strong elements I want to mention.

First of all, I’ve read a handful of romances where the hero is hired to prove the innocence of a family member. In every one I can remember, the character’s innocence is clear.

In this book, though, Dimon does something I found fascinating: offers doubt. Maybe Deana’s nephew is innocent. Maybe he’s not. And this ambiguity adds a gripping element to the story. I could feel the part of my brain that enjoys true crime kicking in to try and put together the pieces. I can’t tell you how much I loved the combination of this mystery and the romance.

Another thing I enjoyed: the friendship between Josh and Kane. It felt genuine, like I was really seeing two male friends interact. Not the oddly feminine talk I sometimes see in books between guys.

In short, I loved this book: 4.5 out of 5. And I’ve got some catching up to do—I’ve got a few books and novellas in Dimon’s booklist I haven’t read. I won’t wait so long next time.