Reviewed by Sharon S.

This is the second book in Wisdom’s Demon series and the first of hers I have read. The author has set up an open world for her story. The magical community isn’t hidden from the “mundanes” but they don’t really mix. There is an alternate dimension called Inlander’s Magical Plane where magical folk can live and shop.

Lili is a healing witch (doctor) that is searching for her best friend who has mysteriously disappeared while working at Crying Souls, a hospital for magical folk in San Francisco. She gets herself a job there to secretly investigate Sera’s and many others disappearance. What she finds is the disturbing treatment secretly taking place in the basement on the insane. One such patient is Jared, a smoke demon who is thought to be beyond help. Lili and Jared team up to uncover what is really going on down there.

I had a hard time finishing this book. It just didn’t hold my attention. The main and secondary characters didn’t have a lot of depth so I never felt invested in them. The author also wasn’t able to make me believe in the world she created. I didn’t feel the chemistry between the Lili and Jared. The deep connection between them seemed to come out of nowhere.

Lili has a talking cat, the reincarnation of Cleopatra who is supposed to be a source of humor, but the snarky cat’s comments seemed forced. The plot was straight forward and predictable. No surprises or twists. There were some secondary characters whose appearances didn’t do anything to move the story forward, just show what a nice people Lili and Jared are. They felt like story filler to me.

Based on other reviews of this book, I am pretty much alone in my opinion about this story <G>. Sometimes an author’s voice just calls to you and sometimes they don’t. This seems to be the case with me. I won’t stay away from this author’s other series, just this one.

Rating:

A Demon Does It Better by Linda Randall Wisdom 2012 P

US $14.99

Sale

A Demon Does It Better NEW by Linda Wisdom

US $9.25

Sale

A Demon Does It Better by Linda Randall Wisdom 2012 Paperback

US $6.12

Sale

NEW A Demon Does It Better Wisdom Linda Randall

US $5.99

Sale

A Demon Does It Better by Linda Wisdom

US $6.00

Sale

A Demon Does It Better Wisdom Linda Randall

US $8.56

Sale

• Toy Story Pixar Collectibles Contemporary (1968-Now) Disneyana Collectibles
• Sesame Street Animation Characters Animation Art, Characters Collectibles
• 3-Series BMW Hybrid Vehicles
• Pepe Le Pew Warner Bros. Animation Characters Animation Art, Characters Collectibles
• Figures Betty Boop Animation Characters Animation Art, Characters Collectibles

Guest post by Rebecca York, author of Dark Moon, Chained, and Ambushed.

Because I’m a romance writer, some people feel free to ask me, “Do you practice your love scenes?"

I like to answer that I also write suspense, and nobody ever asks me if I practice murder.

I’ve got a good enough imagination to come up with hot love scenes and cold-blooded murder scenarios. However, research IS a big part of my writing process.  If I’m setting a book in a particular area, I want to go there, if possible, to find out details I’d never know if I hadn’t visited.

Take CHAINED, the novella in my new indie romantic suspense series called DECORAH SECURITY.  To give you a little background, it’s about a woman hiding out from bad guys on a ranch near Sedona, Arizona.  A ghost saves her life.  Or is he?

How do you have a happy-ever-after with a phantom?  You could have the guy’s consciousness get transferred to some other body.  In CHAINED, I think I came up with a much more interesting solution, which I’m not going to give away.

The whole premise of how I bring the hero and heroine back together revolves around a feature unique to the area.

To quote Isabella, my heroine, in CHAINED:

Still scrambling for explanations, she thought about the vortexes that were all over the Sedona area.  The places of power that the Native Americans had known about for thousands of years.

In modern times, they had become famous among adherents of New Age philosophies, people who incorporated Eastern and Western traditions into their spirituality and who took ideas from many different fields--as diverse as motivational psychology, holistic health, parapsychology, and even quantum physics.  Rather than relying on dogma, they were willing to use anything that worked for them.  Including the vortexes.

They had fascinated Isabella, and she’d read as much as she could about them.  In the physical world, they were forces of wind and water.  Like the circular motion of a tornado or water whirling down a drain.

In Sedona, they were created by spiraling spiritual energy-- locations where the conditions were right to facilitate prayer, meditation and healing.  Mystical, magical places, if you put it in those terms.

From her earlier research, she knew they were believed to have an energy flow that existed in multiple dimensions.  Some people could get in touch with that energy.  And maybe she was one of them.

I’d heard of the vortexes, of course.  But I had to hike to them, walk around them, and sit and meditate at them to really get the sense of how I could use them in my story.

I needed to visit the vortexes to write CHAINED.  But sometimes a life experience or previous research comes in handy.

That was the case with DARK MOON, the werewolf novel from DECORAH SECURITY.  It’s set on a cruise ship that a very nasty villain has turned into a kinky pleasure palace.  No, I haven’t been to an S & M club.  But I have cruised.  And I drew on those experiences to design the Windward, the ship where my werewolf hero, Cole Marshall, and fellow Decorah agent, Emma Richards, go to rescue a young woman who’s been kidnapped by a business rival of her father’s.

Thrown into the pressure cooker of sensuality and danger on the Windward, Cole and Emma try to fight their attraction for each other.  But can they complete their mission before the owner of the ship discovers their identities and has them killed? Will they get caught in the mutiny that’s threatening to send the Windward up in flames.  And how do they cope when the bad guys capture them naked?

AMBUSHED, the short story of the set, takes place in Washington, D.C.  And there I’m really lucky.  I grew up in D.C. and still live nearby.  I know the city.  I’ve visited a lot of federal office buildings.  I’m familiar with the security.  And I love to use my hometown in my work.

In the story, hero Jordan Stone has a sixth sense for danger.  He’s going to need it to save the life of federal witness, Elizabeth Bannerman. But he’s not only fighting the bad guy.  He’s also fighting his notion of right and wrong, which could prevent him from giving in to his attraction for Elizabeth.

Do you notice the research in an author’s work?  The trick, of course, is to weave it in so it adds to the story and doesn’t overshadow the plot and characters.

Author Bio: An award-winning, best-selling novelist, Ruth Glick is the author of over 100 books. Writing as Rebecca York, she has authored or co-authored over 50 romantic suspense novels.

Buy: CHAINED, AMBUSHED, DARK MOON

• Vest Life Jacket Clothing Clothing, Shoes & Accessories Fishing
• Tokens: Love Exonumia Coins & Paper Money
• Home Security Home Improvement
• Security Systems Home Security Home Improvement
• Canadian Fly In Cabin For 3 People Trips Fishing

Reviewed by Sandra Scholes

This novel serves as the last in the four book mini series of Woodcutters Grim which has the curse on the Shaussegeny family as the main arc of the story.

As the others are roughly based on popular fairy tales, this one deals with Beauty and the Beast. Here Ransom Shaussegeny decides once and for all to try and get rid of the curse on their family forever, but it will be a tricky task, and one which has its pitfalls. One of them is that Ransom is cursed with becoming a werewolf when the full moon rises in the heavens and life as a ravening beast isn’t the best he can hope for.

Shaussegeny finds himself amazed that he might believe that a kiss from a woman might save him from the curses grip, but even he thinks it is nothing but fairy tale nonsense – until he has the chance to have the one woman who could be his own.

Beauty is the Beast follows a similar story to the original fairy tale as a man who intends to take a rose for his daughter has to make a deal with Ransom so he can have his daughter when the time is right.

From the first few pages there is a nod to Glynnis Shaussegeny and her new husband which formed the sixth in the Woodcutter Grim series of novels previously. Beauty comes in the form of Tess, the old man’s unfortunate daughter, who turns up at the Shaussegeny family house. Ever since the old man had come to his house wanting the rose he had cultivated, he had never imagined that Tess would come, but he finds out his father didn’t have to send her to him-she came of her own free will, and being a lover of plants and flowers, she couldn’t stay away as she has a great fondness for all flora and fauna of every kind and she is fascinated by them as she ends up being fascinated by him.

Unlike the Beast in the fairy tale who wanted a woman through his own selfishness, and didn’t think that it would lift the curse, Ransom is well aware that she could be the one to lift the curse from his family if she is a willing woman.

As in this excerpt he feels he might be asking a lot of her to tolerate:

“A monster, that’s what I am. She’ll never know who and what I really am. I can’t allow her to see me that way. I have to trust in science. The new formula I’ve created has to be the one. It’s shown more promise than anything else has before. Under the full moon at the end of this month, I’ll inject it and, if it works, everything will change. Tess and I will be free to fall in love without the curse hanging over us.”

Even though this is a novel where the characters have their problems, everything can be worked out for the better, and it ends up being an interesting and compelling retelling of a popular fairy tale.

Rating:

Buy: Woodcutter's Grim Series - Classic Tales Of Horror Retold

• Perfume & Cologne Health & Beauty Advertising Collectibles
• 7-Series BMW Hybrid Vehicles
• Midge & Same-Size Friends Friends & Family Barbie Contemporary (1973-Now) Dolls Dolls & Bears
• Country Rose Plaques & Signs Garden D�cor Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living Nursery
• 500-Series Mercedes-Benz Hybrid Vehicles

Reviewed by Sandra Scholes

Karen Wiesner has been very busy of late with her new and intriguing novels which are based on certain old fairy tales and nursery rhymes. She has of course, rewritten them for a more modern audience, and a more erotic one too. This novel is the third in a miniseries of four books which are all titled The Woodcutters Grim Series. This one is based on The House That Jack Built. The original rhyme actually goes right back to much older times, possibly the sixteenth-century or further back, yet this one has a much more sensual tone to it.

The general premise is that the Shaussegeny family have the misfortune to have a curse put on them, and it is one that has a detrimental effect on the family itself as it changes the victims into beasts when there is a full moon. Everyone who knows they will loathe and hate them and their family name as they will be synonymous with death and destruction. And as if this wasn’t enough to make them depressed, each of the victims of the curse has a soul mate who can help ease the pain of their existence, yet if they cheat on these women, a fate far worse than anything they have ever encountered will befall them.

Gavin Shaussegeny encountered his soul mate, and married her thinking that he would be happy, though it wasn’t long before he found solace in the arms of another. Gavin cheating on his wife is the one thing he shouldn’t do as it breaks the law of the mate covenant. Anyone who does this will suffer hurt and pain as no man has ever felt it, and the shame that they have let their family down with what they have done.

As they know the curse could also be their only salvation, but only if they are faithful to their chosen mates. As the Shaussegeny family have long been considered unfaithful to their men and women, this will be a hard habit to break for the family. Karen has the reader really getting into the minds of the characters, and finding out what makes them tick, but also what can make them tolerant of others. She normally likes putting tragic characters together where the both of them can find peace of mind with each other and sort out their life problems, but in this one in the series, it is less about self harm or self punishment, and more of what others have done to them, for example, the curse on their family. It is interesting to see how these two characters will work out their differences and become one. (that is if it happens.)

Rating:

Buy: Woodcutter's Grim Series - Classic Tales Of Horror Retold

• 200-Series Mercedes-Benz Hybrid Cars & Trucks
• 300 Series Chrysler Hybrid Cars & Trucks
• L-Series Saturn Hybrid Vehicles
• Boxes Tweety Warner Bros. Animation Characters Animation Art, Characters Collectibles
• Back Pain Inversion Tables Fitness Equipment Gym, Workout & Yoga Exercise & Fitness

Guest Blog by Linda Wisdom, author of A Demon Does It Better

Please enjoy an original short featuring Cleo, the latest sassy sidekick from Linda Wisdom’s A Demon Does It Better!

“Desdomoana Haversham here,” the ghostly television hostess smiled at the camera. Dressed in a flowing white gown, her snowy hair rippling in waves down her back, and skin like rare porcelain, the spirit looked the part of one long gone. “My guest today is Cleo, the former queen of the Nile.” She wrinkled her aristocratic nose and stifled a delicate sneeze. “I deeply apologize, I am allergic to cats.”

“You’re dead.” Cleo sniffed back. The chinchilla Persian cat sat on a bright pink silk cushion with the same regal bearing. “Plus, I do not shed.” She ignored a couple silvery hairs floating in the air.

Desdomoana dabbed at her nose with a snowy-white linen handkerchief. “Yes, well, we are here to talk about you and your witch, are we not?”

“Yes, we are,” the fluffy feline purred. “And I must say I am very pleased to be back in San Francisco and especially, Inderman where we can find a higher quality of salmon.”

“What can you tell my viewers about Lili Carter? Yes, we know she is a powerful witch with healing magick in her bones, but what is she like at home?” Desdomoana leaned forward, her pale blue glittering with glee at the prospect of learning the dark and dirty. “Does she have odd habits? Uses her magick all the time? What is going on with the lovely witch now? Tell all, my dear.”

Cleo tapped her paw against her mouth in though then sighed. “The witch is boring with a capital B.”

“Boring? Never!”

The feline leaned forward. “Do you know how long it’s been since she’s gone on a date? Even had coffee with a male, appropriate or non? As for sex, well …” her voice drifted off. “What can I say? For someone of Greek descent, she is more a Vestal Virgin. Although they weren’t as virginal as they claimed. The ones in Pompeii were especially ….”  She tittered. “But I hope to see that change.”

“How so?” Desdomoana’s purr rivaled Cleo’s. “Don’t tease us, darling.”

Cleo looked over her shoulder before turning back to the PNN, Pretenatural News Network, hostess. “Well, as you know, Lili is on the staff at Crying Souls Hospital and Asylum,” she said in a low voice as if afraid of being overheard other than the thousands of creatures watching the broadcast. “Now you tell, me how many suitable males can you find at a hospital?”

“Mundanes always seem to enjoy if they affiliate with a doctor,” Desdomoana chimed in.

“Trust me, not at Crying Souls.” Cleo raised her eyes to the ceiling. “Not a suitable one in the bunch. I have devoted my life to seeing that witch mated the an appropriate male, but that isn’t happening.” If she’d been humanoid she would have looked as if she was biting her lip. “It’s a trifle dry in here, don’t you think? Would you have any catnip wine around?”

“No, we don’t. You found someone for her,” the sultry vampire cooed. “Didn’t you?”

“I have more chosen a proper male for her than once and she has always turned them down.” The cat sighed. “Lili is not one to choose well and I’m afraid that could happen this time. Although,” she absently chewed on a claw, “we did meet this lovely specimen in the scent shop in Inderman. Her pulse did race when he spoke to her and I must say I’d raise my tail for him any time.” She looked around. “Are you sure you don’t have any catnip wine in the studio?”

“Yes, I am,” Desdomoana snapped. “We are here to discuss Lili Carter. She’s well known for her work with not just the supernatural community but even treating mundanes. And you are also known for your involvement helping the younglings when they’re in the hospital. Why would you both return to San Francisco after so many decades? Did she leave because of a scandal?” Her dark eyes fired with avarice for juicy gossip. “We understand that Dr. Carter worked in Bedlam hospital during its worst. Is that why she will be working in the asylum at Crying Souls? It’s been said there are truly evil creatures housed there. Isn’t she afraid of dealing with the afflicted?”

Cleo uttered a hiss of frustration. “She’s a doctor, for Fates sake! She treats who is ill.” She ripped off the tiny microphone slipped in her fur. “This interview is over. I should have known you were too cheap to have catnip wine on hand.” She stalked off the set.

“We aren’t finished!” Desdomoana yelped, raising blood-red tipped fingers.

“The Queen of the Nile has left the building,” came back to the vampire.

What about you? What question would you ask Lili’s furry partner? And best if you have catnip wine on hand.

Linda

A DEMON DOES IT BETTER BY LINDA WISDOM – IN STORES JANUARY 2012

A madhouse is not place for a curious witch…

After more than a century, Doctor Lili Carter, witch healer extraordinaire, has returned to San Francisco and taken a job at Crying Souls Hospital and Asylum, where something peculiar and wicked I shappening. Patients are disappearing, and Lili wants to know why.

And double dangerous for a demon…

Lili finds herself undeniably attracted to perhaps the most mysterious patient of all—a demented but seriously sexy demon named Jared. What’s behind the gorgeous chameleon demon’s late-night escapades?

Before long, Lili and Jared are investigating each other—and creating a whole new kind of magic.

Buy: A Demon Does It Better

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Linda Wisdom has published more than 70 novels with 13 million copies sold worldwide including traditional, paranormal, humor, action/adventure romance, and romantic suspense. Her bestselling books have been nominated for RT Book Reviews awards and the Romance Writers of America Rita Award. She lives with her husband in Murrieta, California. For more information, please visit www.LindaWisdom.com.

GIVEAWAY 2 copies of A Demon Does It Better. Open to US and Canada only. Enter by answering Linda's question. Last Day to enter: January 14, 2012.

• Jackets San Francisco 49ers Football-NFL Fan Apparel & Souvenirs Sports Collectibles
• Pinot Noir Red Wines Wine Food & Wine Home Store
• Male Enhancement Herbs Plants, Seeds & Bulbs Gardening & Plants Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living
• New South Wales Wine Food & Wine Home Store
• Barbera Red Wines Wine Food & Wine Home Store

Reviewed by Sandra Scholes

Set in the town of Woodcutters Grim, the place concerns all the strange happenings that have happened there for many years, and how they have managed to keep the unusual monsters that reside there at bay for so long, and continue to do so. These are the guardians who have sworn and oath to protect them from the evil that lurks around every corner, and wants to destroy wherever it goes. These evils lurk in the woods, and lay in wait for any children who decide to be foolish enough to take a walk there.

Bewitched Book 5 of the Woodcutters Grim Series is based around the curse that has been put on the Shaussegeny family thirty years ago, and how the family have coped with it. The curse itself transforms each of the family into beasts at the full moon, namely werewolves and the idea of fate and hatred coming upon them for what they are is all in this book. Also as part of the curse, the one who cursed their family only allows each cursed member one soul mate, and as long as they are faithful to them, they will remain lovers forever more, if not, some evil fate will befall them soon.

As are most in the Woodcutters Grim series of novels, they are based on fairy tales, this one is loosely based on The Little Mermaid, and as in the title, young Glynnis Shaussegeny is bewitched by one man who lives nearby, and comes to see her. She wonders why he would take any interest in her until she realizes she has a dark personality, and thinks he might top it with his own stories of what he has done in the past. Aric Sayer is his name, and he is as interested in her and curious of why she comes to the black lake as she is of who lives outside the village.

Readers will like what Karen Wiesner has made Glynnis into, as it fits into the whole fantasy/fairy tale story idea nicely. It is the story of two people who have been apart all their lives but who need to be together, and Aric doesn’t know who that one woman is until he meets her purely by chance one day. It is then he feels that she has been the one who can fill his heart with love – she is the one part of him that can make him whole again. So far he has been living alone and has felt so empty.

Rating:

Buy: Woodcutter's Grim Series - Classic Tales Of Horror Retold

• Outdoor Fairy Statues & Yard Art Garden D�cor Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living Nursery
• Air Mail Back of Book United States Stamps
• Duck Stamps Back of Book United States Stamps
• Fairy Wind Chimes Garden D�cor Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living Nursery
• World Series Baseball-MLB Fan Apparel & Souvenirs Sports Collectibles

Hero: Caleb Black is an undercover DEA agent ready to get out of the game for good. As a favor for a friend he returns to his home town to sniff out a new drug cartel that has set up shop in the area. The number one suspect is his father, and as much as he hates the guy, Caleb knows this line of work his beneath his dad. He doesn’t count on falling in love and that really messes with his head.

Heroine: Pandora Easton has to find a way to save the family’s New Age Shop. A failure out in the big world, she can’t stand the idea of failing at home too. With a little help from a girlfriend they strike upon a unique idea – why not serve up aphrodisiacs? The idea is a hit locally, but her idea combined with her recent past makes her a suspect for running a drug ring. Isn’t that just her luck?

Review: Adorable and sexy! A spicy tale with a dash of mystery and a hint of intrigue! This small town / return to your roots romance is perfect for an afternoon retreat. The town has always been full of gossip but now it’s on aphrodisiacs – can you imagine the laughs? An insecure heroine who’s afraid of failure and an honorable hero not willing to accept anything on face value find love when they weren’t looking. It’s not particularly a holiday themed story, but that’s okay.

Rating:

Buy: Sex, Lies and Mistletoe

Sex Lies and Mistletoe by Tawny Weber 2011 Paperback

US $4.23

Sale

NEW Sex Lies And Mistletoe Weber Tawny

US $5.99

Sale

Sex Lies and Mistletoe Harlequin Blaze Tawny Weber

US $1.00

Sale

Sex Lies and Mistletoe Weber Tawny

US $7.46

Sale

Sex Lies and Mistletoe Harlequin Blaze Tawny Weber Very Good Book

US $4.99

Sale

• Men Roller Skates Skate Shop
• Wheels Inline Skates Skate Shop
• DC Skateboards Skateboarding Skate Shop
• Protective Gear Skateboarding Skate Shop
• Roller Skates Skate Shop

Reviewed by Sandra Scholes

Whatever happens, only fate can control what they do, or at least that is what top American writer Karen Wiesner would have us think. In this, book three of the Angelfire Trilogy, Savannah O’Brien and Brett Foxx are the ones who have to work out their troubles if they are to have a decent relationship together. They are different people in their own right, though.

Savannah is as normal as she can get, and as she has been a control freak through most of her life, she only knows this way of being. She has no commitments to anyone, not even any men she has dated; she only wants to commit to her career of being a lawyer and working her way up the corporate ladder. She knows life for her will be difficult, but she plans to make it her life’s work to make her a winner. Unfortunately for her, she isn’t a winner in love and relationships.

Brett Foxx, however has had a run in with Savannah before, and their relationship didn’t end that well. She on the other hand, had feelings for him she never thought possible until she couldn’t have him. He had worked with her and she wanted him more than anything, but once she got with him, the tension between them started.

This is a romantic story with a lot of built up sexual tension and anxiety on both of the characters. She is as opposite from his mentality as chalk and cheese. Savannah is bright, level-headed, and career driven and makes out she doesn’t need anyone until Brett comes along, and he’s everything she’s not; devilishly handsome, reckless, angry, and not looking for love with any woman until he happens to meet her. This is an example of the love between two people that could work but shouldn’t.

Karen has excelled herself with Forever Man this time around, and how she has her characters interact in a realistic way is amazing and thought provoking. She has the ability to make the reader feel exactly the way the character feels, and doesn’t make them play favourites. Savannah is deluding herself if she thinks she can resist Brett again, and Brett, even though he is a prize bad boy, even he has to stop and think for a minute about his chances with her.

Rating:

Buy: Forever Man, Angelfire Trilogy, Book 3

• Pins Tweety Warner Bros. Animation Characters Animation Art, Characters Collectibles
• Tokens: Love Exonumia Coins & Paper Money
• Dr. Seuss Animation Characters Animation Art, Characters Collectibles
• People Figurines Decorative Collectibles Collectibles
• People Vintage (Pre-1970) Miniatures Dollhouse Miniatures Dolls & Bears

Guest Blog by Jennifer Wilck, author of A Heart of Little Faith and Skin Deep

I am not a plotter by nature. I write based on what characters pop into my head and start talking to me. They get louder and louder until I write them down. Sometimes they give me a scene or a chapter. Sometimes it’s just a conversation. Other times, it turns into an entire book. Once I tell their stories, they fade away and someone new takes over.

While it might not be the most organized way of writing, it works from me. When my characters speak to me, the writing flows and I can disappear into the story. I love writing and it feels easy. That’s not to say that it IS easy, but it feels that way. Knowing that this method works best for me, you’d think I’d stick with it, wouldn’t you? I mean, I’ve gotten two manuscripts published this way, I enjoy doing it, and I’d like to keep doing it for a long time.

You’d be wrong. While writing my second manuscript, I met an awesome critique partner. She and I are like Yin and Yang. Her strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. We are brutally honest with each other, we keep each other striving to perfect our craft and we’ve even become friends. So I hope you’ll understand my fear when I’d finished the manuscript, edited it, sent it out to a publisher and had it accepted. Now what? I didn’t want to lose her, because I’m not convinced that I’ll ever find a critique partner as good as she is.

So, after doing my happy dance upon getting my publishing contract, I immediately sat down at my computer to begin a new story. Only, there were no characters talking in my head. I had a story idea that I’d wanted to try for some time. It was also a romance, but with a Jewish theme. It would be tricky, because it would have a story within a story and also because I wanted to make sure that it appealed to everyone, regardless of their religion. It would require planning. It would also require the assistance of my non-Jewish critique partner to make sure that what I was writing was clear, understandable and interesting.

I decided to outline what I wanted to write, even though I’ve never, ever been able to use an outline for any writing in my life. Even as a student, I’d complete my papers weeks early in order to write the outline after the fact so that it would match the paper I’d already written. Going against every writing instinct in my body, I wrote an outline and sent it to my critique partner.

At that point, I could have set the outline aside and written from what was in my head, because by that time, I was getting faint murmurs from my characters. I should have, but I didn’t. I sat down, looked at my outline for chapter one and wrote chapter one. It was excruciating. I used every opportunity to become distracted. I took long breaks between scenes and eventually, chapters. So long, in fact, that I continuously had to consult the outline and what I’d written previously, to know what to write next.

But I did it. I wrote the whole story. I stuck to the outline. The first draft, like most first drafts, needs editing and rewriting and will continue to keep my critique partner busy for months. It’s short and needs to be fleshed out in some areas. But none of those issues are the real problem.

Oh no. Did I mention that this story is supposed to be a romance? Well, I left something important out. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, did I put in any sex scenes. Totally forgot about them. Hello!!! What romance writer does that? I realize that not all romances need to show the sex scenes; my first book had the sex take place behind closed doors. My second one was most definitely “open door.” I don’t want sex in the book just for sex’s sake, but come on, these characters are supposed to fall in love and have sexual chemistry!

I was so focused on getting everything down in the outline, and then following the outline exactly, that I completely forgot to have my hero and heroine demonstrate any physical attraction for each other. And there lies the problem. I’m not used to having to “make” my characters do anything. When I write, my characters lead the story. They tell me what they want to do and say. It doesn’t always work, but it’s organic. When they fall in love, it seems like the most natural thing in the world. When they sneak a glance or covert touch, the reader roots for them and wants more. The love my characters feel for each other, and how they show it, is not based on what my outline says should happen. As I’ve now seen, when my outline dictates my writing (and please understand that this is only a judgment of my own writing), my story is stilted and emotionless.

So, for my next round of edits, I’ll be tossing that outline out and writing from my heart. Isn’t that where romance comes from anyway?

 About the Author: Jennifer is a chocolate-loving romance writer who’s days are filled chauffeuring her daughters to too many after-school activities, volunteering at school and temple and trying to steal time away with her husband. When all of that gets overwhelming, she retreats to her computer, where she write stories that let her escape from reality. She has two books published with Whiskey Creek Press: A Heart of Little Faith and Skin Deep. She can be reached at: www.jenniferwilck.com or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Wilck/201342863240160. She also writes a blog, Fried Oreos, at www.jenniferwilck.wordpress.com.

Book Purchasing Links: A Heart of Little Faith and Skin Deep

• Porky Pig Warner Bros. Animation Characters Animation Art, Characters Collectibles
• Back of Book Canada Stamps
• Back of Book United States Stamps
• Sesame Street Animation Characters Animation Art, Characters Collectibles
• Hanna-Barbera Animation Characters Animation Art, Characters Collectibles

Reviewed by Sandra Scholes

As she mentions at the beginning before the reader ever gets to the start of the story, “Women who have faced pain, loss and heartache. They know the score and never back down.” For the heroine in this story, it is true enough as Jesse Nelson is a self destructive type as are a few of Karen’s heroines, and she has run her course all the way not regretting a single thing she does until she realizes that self destruction can only go so far before she is dead.

The story starts off as standard romance fare where she meets a man who is very much like her in every way as he too is a self destructive man who thinks of others as enemies due to other people he thought were friends wronging him in the past. There is a twist though, Jesse and Flint were childhood friends and as close as friends could be until circumstances drifted them apart. Both people have been given another chance at life, one for Jesse after being helped out a near death experience in an alleyway, while Flint escapes an accident that could have spelled the end for him.

Flint has all the women he could ever want, the lifestyle and the top executive job to go with it, but inside he is an empty shell, unhappy at the women he has bedded, the wife he married (she was too clingy and needy for him to have a real life around) and the drugs and booze he took to dampen his senses from his useless life had got the better of him, so much so he doesn’t even remember Jesse anymore. His life is one long string of women, and self destruction. It is only when he is alone in his office and he allows his mind to wander that he remembers Jesse and the life they could have had together – she was the only woman for him, and he knows it. He thinks due to him having a lot of money, other women are only out to take it from him, but not all of them are.

What Flint feels all will feel in this excerpt I found interesting as it is him remembering what he had when he was younger and what he lost in adulthood:

“Stroking the cold muzzle of the gun against his forehead, he lay back on the sofa. The image of Jesse Nelson filled his mind. He was eleven years old, living in Milwaukee. Jesse was his best friend, the girl he loved, violently loved. Lived for her. Died without her.”

White Rainbow is two people’s success story once it reaches the end, as the both of them know that they have missed each other for so long and discover they can’t ever be apart as no one else they have been with has ever come close to what they had as lovers. This story reminded me of one of those life changing stories you hear about with people who have come close to death, and managed to survive through faith and love.

As is normal in any of Karen Wiesner’s novels there is a sense of being uplifted once you have read them, and want to get your hands on more of her books almost instantly. Hers is a singular talent not many have, and her imbuing a little religious faith into her stories is without her trying to force her beliefs onto the reader. At the beginning it is more about Flint and his demons he has to come to terms with.

Rating:

• Tylers Friends Tyler Wentworth Collection Tonner By Brand, Company, Character Dolls Dolls & Bears
• People Vintage (Pre-1970) Miniatures Dollhouse Miniatures Dolls & Bears
• Life Fitness Equipment Gym, Workout & Yoga Exercise & Fitness
• Mti Fisher Pro Kayak Life Jacket Review Clothing Clothing, Shoes & Accessories Fishing
• Nelson Rain Date Timers & Controllers Watering Equipment Gardening & Plants Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living