October 15th, 2009 — 5 Stars, ARC, About, Genre, S-U, V-Z
I won the Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels in the SBTB ARC giveaway contest. When I got it in the mail I ripped the packaging and squeed! About two chapters into the guide my first thought beyond the squeeing was this...
English/Lit grad students working with romance novels: Smart Bitches just pwned your thesis. Scrap what you got and start over. Think I'm kidding? Ignore my advice and you will Not Pass Go and Collect $200 you'll just go straight to FAIL.
My second thought another two chapters down the road was...
SBTB has written the ultimate end all be all guide for romances. You won't be able to talk about romance again without using this book because they've covered it all: lead types, plot tropes, standard clichés, wtf moments, sex, and HEAs.
Sarah and Candy have written a terrific book. Their guide to romances will definitely bring tears of laughter to your eyes as well as enlighten readers to why women love to read romances... the shortcut answer is all about the hero and heroine... or maybe it's all in the Magic Hoo-Hoo? Hmm... tricky. I guess you'll have to read to find out for yourself.
The tone of the novel is set to read like your best friend breaking down the facts of romance for you to understand, potty language and crude jokes included. Pick this book up for no other reason than to read and learn about the different types of heroes and heroines. It's sure to bust your gut because you've probably come across at least one of each... like the too stupid to live heroine.
Overall, 5 Stars out of 5 Stars.
Fans and Scorners ignore Beyond Heaving Bosoms at your own peril... especially the scorners for we just might throw the 80s Rapist Hero at you.
Originally posted 2009-02-14 05:22:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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May 2nd, 2009 — 3.5 Stars, Blackmail, Bodyguard, Book Review, Category, Contemporary, Entrepreneur, Revenge, Survival, Suspense/Thriller, United States of America, V-Z
Going Down Hard is the sequel to Coming on Strong and follows Belle’s best friend and Mitch’s cousin as they stumble into love. Half suspense – half sexy as sin, Tawny Weber puts out another top notch romance. Weber spins words like a top notch DJ spins tunes. She has a delightfully witty tone that is sassy and spunky; just like the heroine.
Sierra is receiving doctored photographs in the mail. Sexual in nature, they were at first funny because they were so terrible, but then the pervert got good at it. The creepiness just gets creepier as Sierra’s head gets attached to more and more degrading photos. The cops can’t do anything at the moment and with Sierra’s background they’re not likely too. Now the stalker is even threatening to ruin Eventually Yours, the business Sierra and Belle started, by sending pictures to their newest client Family.
That’s when Belle and Sierra decide it’s time to call in the big guns. Reece is an ex-military Kentucky cowboy with his own business in security. He takes the case for many reasons, one of them being Sierra herself. Their last encounter (in Coming on Strong) has left his head spinning and he wants more. Sparks fly, but Reece is persistent in getting behind that tough as nails exterior Sierra exudes to find the real woman.
Despite the heavy topic, I was amused and laughing all the way through. Here’s an example of some of the dialogue and admittedly my favorite piece:
“What reason? What proof?" She would have poked him again except he still held her hand captive.
When he didn't immediately reply, she accused, "You had nothing. Admit it. Your jealousy meter dinged and you pulled on the Macho Man cape and set out to prove you could be a total idiot."
Weber’s writing is sure to rile you up and make you gasp…
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Buy: Going Down Hard
Buy on eHarlequin: Going Down Hard
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April 11th, 2009 — 3 Stars, Book Review, Children, Clumsy Heroine, Contemporary, Pregnant, Stephenie Meyer, United States of America, Vampire, Virgin Hero, Virgin Heroine, Werewolf, Young Adult
I was very excited to get my Breaking Dawn in the mail from Amazon. They managed to get it to me one day before they told me that it would arrive on my doorstep and I devoured the novel, all 700+ pages, in two days, which is consistent with how I’ve read the other three that came before.
The novel did many things I did not expect, and one thing in particular that I did expect. This review will contain spoilers, so read at your own risk. Suffice it to say I give Breaking Dawn four stars.
The wedding, surprisingly takes place within the first hundred pages. I thought that it would happen at the end after Jacob did something to delay it so he could win Bella for his own. This is not the case. The wedding is lovely and Bella gets through it just fine and afterwards can’t believe how uptight she was about the whole thing.
On their honeymoon, Bella and Edward make love successfully; unfortunately the scene fades to black, which annoyed me. The morning after Bella stirs and is blissfully happy but sore, Edward is composed and staring blankly at the ceiling and ruins her buzz by killing the mood. He won’t make love to her again, claims that she’s lying when she says she’s feeling fine—no great, all because he can see how rough he was with her. Bella only recalls that he held her tighter when she wanted him to, etc. Edward is sickened by how much of her skin is covered in bruises that match his hands.
Luckily, Bella manages to break him out of his funk through the use of sexy lingerie Alice packed for her and some innocent seduction. The second and third and so on times, Edward manages to ruin furniture instead of Bella’s skin, making him extremely satisfied… Bella too.
Meanwhile, I started to think about how much food Bella was consuming and came to the conclusion before it was revealed that she was pregnant. Her pregnancy is ridiculously accelerated and Edward freaks out. Bella knowing something is up, makes plans of her own to protect the life inside her and calls Rosalie for help, making the female vampire happy for the first time with her decisions.
From here the novel switches from Bella’s point of view to Jacob’s, which made me call up my friend and ask for some spoilers because I just don’t like the werewolf. During this part of the novel we witness Bella’s pregnancy, a break in the werewolf tribe as Jacob takes partial leadership, and Bella becoming very attached to Jacob’s presence.
The pregnancy takes a lot out of Bella until they realize that because the child is part vampire Bella’s diet needs to change from human food to a liquid diet of blood. Drinking blood immediately affects Bella’s health for the better, but also that of the baby’s. Every time the child moves inside Bella it leaves bruises on her skin and potentially breaks a rib in the process.
Edward is seriously going crazy and blames himself at this point and goes as far as offering Bella to Jacob if she really wanted a child as long as she’d be willing to give their child up as it was hurting her so much. Of course Jacob thinks on the idea and manages to bring it up to Bella who denies that its children she wants so much as her and Edward’s child that she wants.
Bella dies during birth, but luckily Edward manages to successfully turn her into a vampire while Jacob does CPR to keep the venomous blood flowing through her veins before it activates. Jacob leaves when he thinks it’s failed and goes downstairs where he intends to kill the child, now in Rosalie’s care. He never does, because once he lays eyes on their baby girl he bonds with her. This ends Jacob’s point of view in the story and switches back to Bella’s viewpoint.
The rest of the story deals with what I thought would happen to postpone the wedding—the Volturi are coming and they plan to execute the Cullen family for their Immortal Child (which is not what Edward and Bella’s child is per se, the term refers to something else). Alice and Jasper leave after Alice gives some very stern instructions to the family. The whole Western hemisphere is being herded together to witness the growth and humanity of the child.
It ends happily and Bella has amazing control on her thirst and on her special gift. I love the last few scenes between her and Edward. I am looking forward to reading the series again from Edward’s point of view, starting with Midnight Sun.
What did you think of the series ending?
Rating: 3 Stars
Originally posted 2008-08-13 05:03:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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