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In Over Her Head is the ultimate beach read. No, seriously, it is. You have talking fish, Mers (only humans would classify them by gender), sea monsters, underwater cities hidden by the Greek gods, heirs, thrones, adventure, a cache of diamonds… there’s so much going on in this book.

In so many ways this book is a retelling of Little Mermaid, though I prefer to think of it as the reverse of The Little Mermaid. The hero is a prince, but he’s also a Mer. It’s the heroine who is human and is afraid of the water. She is petrified to be in the ocean: sharks, sharks, mysterious voices, sharks, and well sharks. It’s a wonder she ever got certified to dive.

Both characters are driven by the urge to prove themselves. Erica has been labeled incompetent, useless, and a nutcase ever since the Incident. She’s been struggling to prove to her brothers, who’ve teased her mercilessly ever since, that she is capable and smart and well normal.

Reel, being the second son, is the Spare… as in the heir and the… all his life he’s been a part of the Mer world without any of its perks. As the second son he doesn’t have fins, he has legs. Sure he can breath underwater, speak to fish, but he’s never had respect. The most important race in his life and he was four minutes behind. He doesn’t have the power or the immortality the rest of them do and has been struggling for acceptance into a society that looks down on him. If only his father would get to know him instead of considering him the ultimate embarrassment.

It’s a fish of a tale, pun so intended–bad as it undoubtedly is. If you’re looking to kick up your fins and read a good kelp-turner… yeah, okay I’m done with the water jokes. Judi is much better at these than I am. Well, no I do have one more. Have you ever heard that joke about the Merman, the Kraken, and the Female Human?

Rating: 3 Stars

Classified interracial because of Mer/Human relationship.

Buy: In Over Her Head

C’mon, sit down, relax and grab a cuppa Joe. Well no, a cuppa Eric actually. Eric Truglia sat down with me recently to discuss what went down at the Romantic Times Convention in Orlando where he was a contestant in the Mr. Romance contest. Giving us a unique look on the experience Eric shares why he competed along with exclusive behind-the-scenes gossip!

One thing you think the ladies should know about you:

Eric: I love to make people smile and laugh. I enjoy bringing happiness to others.

Why did you decide to compete in Mr. Romance?

Eric: I was always self conscience about myself. I lost a lot of weight and my confidence in myself started to rise, and that’s why I started up modeling plus the reassurance given to me by my loving girlfriend. I really enjoyed it and wanted to see how far I could go. I’ve noticed that if I start toeing at something I end up getting too nervous and let fear take control of my actions. So instead of toeing at the edge of the river I dove head first into it.

What was your favorite part about the competition and the convention?
Eric: My favorite part about the competition was that it reminded me of my high school theatre days. Rehearsing everyday and being behind the stage brought back great memories. The fact that all of the competitors, to me at least, bonded together like the way the crew and the actors did at my school made the feeling more surreal.

My favorite part of the convention would honestly have to be that I finally met and get my picture taken with the author who first got me into reading: Pears Anthony. I honestly had to force myself to stop from babbling to him. He is one of my biggest heroes. I never thought in my entire life I would meet him let alone shake his hand.

What were some of the things you did behind the scenes at RT?
Eric: Behind the scenes I helped out whenever I could as to take some of the load off of the hands of the staff, who by the way are some of the greatest group of people to be around and I was honored to work with them and my fellow competitors.

Funniest thing a person said to you while in Orlando:
Eric: Scuba! Inside joke with the guys.

One piece of advice you’d give future Mr. Romance candidates:
Eric: To future candidates I just say be yourself. Don’t try and be something you’re not. People can see through that.

You can find Eric on Facebook and Model Mayhem.

PS… When I saw this picture of Eric, my mind did a little fizzle…

Why? Because he totally looked like the new members of the New Moon crew, you know the ones, those in that sexy werewolf pack running around in La Push these days.

Now if Eric were cast as Jacob Black, I would be over the moon, pun intended, because Eric is hot! What say you?

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I just got off the phone with Jeremy Rivenburg, one of the gorgeous models going for Mr. Romance on Saturday. He sounds as wonderful on the phone as he looks; soft-spoken, polite. His voice is sinful and I got to talk to him for just over thirty minutes. On top of that he’s a genuinely nice guy who’s a little bashful and very modest. Below is the transcript of the interview:

1. Why do you think you’re the best candidate for Mr. Romance?

Jeremy: You know I don’t know if I’m the best. The reason why I am here is because someone chose me. I didn’t sign up for this on my own. I was asked to do this. I was sponsored [Between Your Sheets].  Annette Batista, who I shot a romance novel trailer with said that I would be good as a cover model and that I would do well at it. I would give it my best.

2. What type of romance cover do you see yourself doing?

Jeremy: I can pull off different looks. As I said before I did a book trailer. My character was named Sam; I was a vampire in the process of turning. Supernatural stuff, which is interesting. Several of my model shots, I’ve been told, would be great on a book cover. I hear I could pull off really well being as a vampire.

(I can see him as one of those devilishly handsome but withdrawn and brooding heroes, not necessarily a vampire, but one of those scarred and wounded heroes from historicals.)

3. One thing you think the ladies should know about you:

Jeremy: Hmm….  I guess that I’m shy. I’m a pretty shy guy. I’m not the kind of guy who… I guess that’s not good here [Romantic Times Convention]. I’m forcing myself to be confident, more outgoing, and talkative. Some of the ladies here know that and they come over and say hi to me, ask me how things are going. It’s helped to open me up a little bit… One lady last night told me that that’s what she liked about me.

4. In 3-5 adjectives, how would you describe yourself?

Jeremy: Shy, sarcastic-I joke around a lot or whatever you want to call that, hmm… this is more difficult than I would have thought. Nice guy, I’m not a bad boy.

He is certainly nice and down to earth! It was such a pleasure to chat with him.

You can find him on Facebook and on Model Mayhem.

So what do you think ladies, is Jeremy Rivenburg the next Mr. Romance?

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By: Cara Lynn, guest reviewer

The Marriage Game by Fern Michaels is a light summer read.

I figured by the description it would have some humor, and it does.

Samantha Rainford returns from her honeymoon to find she has been served divorce papers. She is both shocked and heart broken. She is going to be paid off with a check for $5000. When she visits the attorney, she learns there are three other wives before her who have all been treated the same way. She determines that she will not get mad, she will get even. She enlists the aid of the other wives to extract their revenge.

Meantime, she and a girlfriend attend an FBI training school — seriously, how remotely possible is that! where they both flunk out. But they’ve learned a thing or two.

Then they are recruited for a secret ops camp deep in the mountains of NC. How Samantha gets the better of her recruiter is one of the funnier portions of the book. The only way the two of them will join is if the other wives come along too.

The cast of characters in the mountain includes the head trainer who is endangered by his past if he comes off the mountain (Pappy), and the cook (who turns out to be his father), a dog that is part wolf (Alpha), and the other teams that are being trained.

This section of the book is interesting as the characters are developed. The better part of a year is spent on the mountain. Samantha passes with flying colors, but Pappy doesn’t want her to have the life that he has had. He is in love with her, though she doesn’t know it. And he doesn’t know she was ever Mrs. Rainford.

How she and the other women — they find he has a number of other ex-wives that they find out about, and that might not be all, who are also included in this — exact their revenge is a cute part of the story. And how it interweaves with Pappy’s story is believable.

I give it a 3.

I’ve never read any of her books before, but judging from this, I will see if I enjoy the others as much.

With all that FBI and special agent secret op going on The Marriage Game sounds like a cross with Miss Congeniality. What do you think?

Buy: The Marriage Game

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Originally posted 2008-08-11 05:26:24. Republished by Old Post Promoter

When London’s best catch of the season - nay the decade - singles you out from across a crowded ballroom you would probably look over your shoulder for the season’s beauty. This is exactly was Eve Faraday does, because there is no way on earth any man would ever single her out. She wasn’t ugly, in fact she knew she was pretty, but she was not a beauty. She was too short to be in style and not short enough to be a “pocket Venus.” Her curly brown locks and brown eyes were lovely but not enchanting. She was not titled and did not possess any great fortune so why was Aubrey Ashford asking her to dance?

Deeply mistrusting, Eve begs him to let her in on the joke. Has he lost a bet? Worse still, had he lost such a bet to her brother? Aubrey is delighted with her skepticism. He begs another dance and at the end of the second tells her he will come calling the next day to get permission from her father to court her… aghast, Eve wonders again what is the punch line? Why would the most handsome, rich, charming, and sought after man practically announce his intention to become engaged to her when he didn’t even know her?

Eve is befuddled by Aubrey and thoroughly bespelled by his good looks and smooth manners. She struggles against it, tries to retain her train of thought and her wits to ask him the right questions. She thinks she has learned enough if not all and agrees to marry Aubrey, making him truly ecstatic.

Aubrey has promised to be faithful to her, love her as he can, and to tell her only truth to her, but at the same time he is determined also not to reveal too much because that could prove disastrous. Unfortunately for him, his spiteful sister is eager to ruin him in his new bride’s eyes. She feeds Eve three questions to ask of him. Three questions and the life he was hoping to build could be ruined for he promised not to lie outright. Is Eve strong enough for the truth? Is he strong enough to bear the consequences?

This was a very sweet romance, as the male lead never thought he contained any capacity to love. When he fully realizes he’s been moved, that he has a heart, that he has given it to her without knowing is truly touching.

Rating: 4 Stars

Buy: Bride Enchanted

Originally posted 2008-12-08 16:36:01. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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For the most part I truly enjoyed reading Beast. It’s a twist on the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast and has a scarred hero who just happens to be a prince… a prince of nothing as it were because it was a French aristocratic title bestowed after the dissolution of the monarchy. The hero is extremely fond of perfumes and perfume ingredients. He’s a botanist, chemist, and a nose which is to say an expert at smelling things. He’s quite a vain creature who has worked very hard to be charming, well thought of, wealthy, and seen as handsome instead of grotesque. His manners are faultless, his skill as a lover unparalleled, and his person dressed and draped in the finest money can buy.

The heroine is a vain person as well, but hers is a beauty that was bestowed upon her from birth and not anything she ever had to work to achieve. In fact she sneers at anyone who comments upon her beauty. If only they could see the girl beneath whomever that girl may be… She doesn’t want to marry at all and she’s certainly not inclined to marry someone who is not as beautiful as she is because isn’t that something she deserved? Couldn’t the man she married be handsome as well as titled, wealthy, charming, and whole of body?

It was a good set up but about halfway through I thought wouldn’t it be great if the hero to put the heroine in her place. Of course it never happened. In fact the reverse did. Why though? Sadly, I believe it is how the initial key plot points unfolded. So despite the hero perpetrating the whole disaster and the heroine being the cause of the disaster, the hero was forced to grovel.

So what happened? Louise found out her husband wasn’t as magnificent as her parent’s said he was and she was determined to find a lover who could give her everything she was certain her new husband could not. Charles overheard and hatched a scheme to force her to see beyond his face and his original intentions were to reveal himself and make her the butt of the joke. Instead he fell in love and tried to unsuccessfully woo her as himself in daylight. She figures it out eventually because he slips up. He’s tried to tell her who he is/was but Louise is clueless and refuses to see the connection because that would just be too horrible!

So because Louise didn’t grow up and Charles did the only growing I’m going to have to give Beast 3 Stars instead of the 4 Stars I would have if the heroine had owned up all of her faults instead of just a few and try to make amends to her husband.

Buy: Beast

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So I finally gave in and watched P.S. I Love You for the first time. It sounded like such a sad and depressing movie that I really didn’t want to watch it. How many others thought the same thing when it first came out? And while the movie has its sad moments, it also had a lot of touching and funny moments helping the movie grow just as it helped the main character, Holly Kennedy, to grow.

Holly and Gerry have been an item since their teenage days, married young and still don’t have kids. Gerry dies from a brain tumor and his death has for all intensive purposes has killed Holly too. She herself is dead to life and is struggling, going through a facsimile of living and doing it poorly. Holly wallows in her apartment remembering Gerry and moments of their life together until…

A birthday cake and tape recording jumpstart Holly. On her thirtieth birthday, Holly receives these two gifts from her dead husband. She thinks it’s a terrible joke until she plays the message. Gerry is talking to her, telling her that he loves her but it’s time to move on and enjoy life again. He plans to give her ten messages, in all different ways at random intervals, to help her get over him.

Every adventure gets her out of their apartment and takes her somewhere new. She winds up in Ireland for the trip they never took and ends up sleeping with another hot Irish musician after he somehow knew to sing her Gerry’s song. When she finds out the man was akin to being Gerry’s best friend growing up she’s horrified. The friend too is completely taken aback by the news and rushes to reassure her that Gerry wouldn’t be angry with her. It’s a very sweet moment.

The whole movie is about Holly finding her single self again. She went from being a couple and knowing exactly who she was and how she functioned in that setting to being single. There’s romance in this between flashbacks of her and Gerry and daydreams of Gerry as well as a hint of future love with his best friend, but mostly this movie is like a coming of age story. I liked it a lot despite my original concerns. You’ll cry but you’ll laugh too.

Rating: 4 Stars

Originally posted 2008-11-13 22:20:33. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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Dating da Vinci is a wonderful novel that deals with some very hard issues in a very compassionate and interesting way with very engaging writing. It basically boils down to the question- can one love again when one’s soul mate is gone? Ramona Elise Griffen tries to answer this question all throughout the novel as she writes her dissertation on the language of love.

Ramona is still grieving strongly for her dead husband of two years. His office and his studio spaces are still designated as his and not often trespassed upon. His clothes still hung in her closet and the jar of peanut butter he was eating is still in the pantry. Joel’s absence was very much pronounced throughout her (and her two boy’s) life. The boys were handling it better, joining things again, participating in sports and Ramona was stuck in limbo.

Besides caring for her kids, Ramona teaches immigrants how to speak English, providing them with all the skills they would need to make it out in the real world. Many of her former students still call her a friend and live nearby or run into her on a fairly regular basis. Joel’s life insurance is about to run out and the money she earns as a teacher will soon to be her family’s sole income. So this is just one more worry Ramona must face.

The novel starts on the first day of a new class of immigrants and Ramona spies an odd name mid list. Thinking that the woman in admissions was playing a joke on her, Ramona is surprised when a flesh and blood Leonardo da Vinci enters into the classroom late. His Italian good looks floor her as she had imagined an older graying haired man in his place. Young, vital, da Vinci brings Ramona back to life, slowly dragging her out of her world of grief.

I really liked reading Ramona’s paper as she wrote it. I especially enjoyed the trivia on the term French kissing and what the French actually called it… soul kissing. What a wonderful term! A soul kiss is so much more than a French kiss in my opinion. It means so much for both parties and evokes an intimacy simple lust can not create on its own.

I thought it was so cute that she was Mona Lisa to his da Vinci which is what makes the rest of the story so disappointing. Spoilers ahead… highlight to read.

As the novel progresses, da Vinci starts to come off a bit strange to Ramona. At the same time her sister’s current boyfriend sparks an awareness. Ramona is certain where her relationship with da Vinci is based mostly in fantasy, should she ever start one with Cortland it would be real. I thought this strange, but you’re brought around to agree before novel’s end.

I personally felt that Cortland was a good second choice; he was attentive (to Ramona at least), sensitive, good-looking, rich, and most importantly already a father in his own right. But with a title like Dating da Vinci I grew quite attached to Leo as he was introduce. His weirdness is all explained with a more than adequate explanation.

Later after Ramona feels bad about dumping him she finds his journals. The first one is all about calories and exercise, like a diet journal. The second one she ran across had musings in it that make your heart melt all over again.

I so much wanted to see da Vinci and Ramona together and not getting it really threw me. I would have given this novel a solid 4 Stars had they managed to overcome their differences. As it is, everything ends happily for both Ramona and da Vinci and all the loose ends are wrapped up. It just wasn’t the ending I’d rooted for as I read.

This novel reminded me a lot of P.S. I Love You in tone and feel… overwhelmingly sad in parts and exceedingly joyful (heartwarmingly moving) in others. If you enjoyed P.S. I Love You, you will enjoy Dating da Vinci.

Rating: 3.5 - 4 Stars

Originally posted 2008-11-01 17:47:34. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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Slow news day? Well at least it’s an update. To learn more about what happened read Breaking News: Midnight Sun Leaked. You can also find a link there to Meyer’s website with the version of the novel she released for public consumption.

November 5, 2008 @ EW:

When you returned home after a grueling tour for Breaking Dawn, you discovered that your unfinished manuscript for Midnight Sun had leaked onto the Internet, and you released a statement saying you were permanently shelving the story. Do you still feel the same?

The funny thing about that statement is I didn’t actually write the majority of it. I wrote about three single-spaced Word document pages of just real pain — with sort of a laugh on the end so everything was kind of tongue-in-cheek. And there were lawyerly people who thought it just wasn’t a good way to do it. I didn’t want to feel misrepresented in the letter and other people didn’t want me to be too emotionally vulnerable. So in the end only the one or two sentences written by me seem really jarring, and people didn’t get that there was sort of a joke in there. For example the part that’s me is where I said, ”If I wrote it now everybody would end up dying.” But that was a joke! And it sounded so serious amidst all the lawyer talk and I think my fans thought, Wow, she’s threatening to kill everyone! [Laughing] I felt kind of bad about that. I never felt any anger, actually. Just a lot of sadness. I mean it was a sucker punch — like someone came up behind you and just hammered you in the kidneys and you had no idea it was coming.

January 29, 2009 @ NY Daily News:

“Nothing’s changed,” a rep for the author confirms to us. “Stephenie has no plans to move forward with ‘Midnight Sun’ at this time.”

But Meyer fanatics can anticipate an upcoming novel. “Stephenie is working on something else at the moment,” the flack reveals. “But she hasn’t announced it yet. It isn’t ‘Twilight’-related. When she’s ready to reveal it, she will. This has been an intense three years for her, and currently she’s just focusing on being a writer.”

As for how Meyer plans to protect her works in the future, her spokesperson says, “She’ll just have to be very selective about where she sends her manuscripts.”

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Alec Greven is a 4th grader who began to write his book on dating advice when he was eight. He spent time observing boys and girls on the playground at school and wrote down things he saw that worked and also things that didn’t. The book is full of little pearls of wisdom. For instance:

“Whatever happens, just don’t act desperate. Girls don’t like desperate boys.”

Desperation never looks good on anyone. Desperation also translates to needy, clingy, whiny, and exceedingly urgent. Think sweaty palms, babbling, mumbling, shifty features, and occasionally a mean comment or too. This leads into this next gem:

“Many boys who have crushes don’t know how to act around a girl. Some boys tease girls they like and are mean to them. Some boys say silly things to girls and act goofy. Some boys think they are acting cool by showing off.”

Who is the book for?

Wives have given it to husbands as a joke. Alec Grevan says it’s for anyone and others say it’s for ages eight to eighty. He says boys should start young. I say if you’re eighty and started at eight and still haven’t figured out girls to some extent then something is wrong! The inside has cute little black and white line drawings and covers forty-eight pages.

And before you ask this little heartbreaker doesn’t have a girlfriend or even a crush at the moment. Grevan is currently on tour for his book as has two other books written about talking to moms and dads.

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I had never heard of such a thing until recently when I read this article over at the Christian Science Monitor. The article highlights the latest exploits of an 86 year old Buddhist nun and author of a new smash hit in cell phone novels. I know it sounds like a joke but as this article over Reuters shows that it’s true. Here the author talks about her translation of an 11^th century manuscript and how she came to the decision to write a cell phone novel.

When it comes to the idea of the digital novel, I knew you could download .pdf and other similar formats to your palm pilots and other handheld devices. Seeing that the phone is a handheld device, I don’t know why I’m so surprised, especially as they are now being integrated with the technology of one of these palm pilots. Just look at the iPhone by Apple - the larger screen format would certainly lend itself to cell phone novels.

Cell phone novels are a big hit in Asian countries right now - especially China and Japan. The audience of such a novel would be astronomical! I can hardly imagine the number, but sales would be huge. The New York Times in this article, even states that in Japan, of the top 10 bestsellers in the country, 5 started life as a cell phone novel.

Where did the birth of the cell phone novel start?

As I understand, back in 2000 Maho no i-rando found a way to turn blog novels, written and updated on the web in a way similar to penny dreadfuls were serialized in the past, into text that could be downloaded on the phone. It became more popular when cell phone companies offered unlimited text messaging and internet use as part of monthly packages.

How does one write a cell phone novel?

By typing it into your phone! You’ve got to have some serious thumb action going on to rival the most dedicated Smash Brothers devotee. I can’t see these being composed on phones without the keyboard for texting as by the time you clicked and reclicked a key to get the letter you wanted the sentence would be clean out of your head.

Who writes cell phone novels and who reads them?

Most novels read like diaries and are written by first time writers (usually female) and read by first time readers. Generally speaking these novels are after a fashion a love story. The cell phone novel has outdone J.K. Rowling’s efforts with Harry Potter to bring the love of reading to those previously untouched by it. How literary the writing is, is an altogether another matter. Think instant messaging speak with emoticons and the like scattered throughout the telling of the story. Sounds painful, right?

So why is this novel format a big success in Asia but not America?

Apparently it all comes down to the commute from home to work and back again. Americans travel less or travel in our own cars which make it impossible to utilize this novel format. ABC News debates on this issue here.

I for one seeing it take off in America if the grammar and writing is better than IM-speak. After all we demand that our fanfiction be excellent - why should cell phone novels be different? I also see college students making use of cell phone novels on the way to and from class. The market for a college targeted audience would be pretty big.

What are your thoughts on cell phone novels?

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