I'm not dead, I've just been reading...

Hello, hello!

Every time I come here, I find myself having to clarify that I'm still alive and kicking.  Mmmm....  One needs to work on one's time management.  Or, stop working.  I know which I'd prefer.

I know which one Sparky would prefer....

It's been a little nuts here, what with Christmas coming, Anarchy slamming his thumb in a door and requiring plastic surgery, Faith going on camp, and getting gastro, and Love turning nine.

Mental, I tells ya!  I'm at peak performance when only one thing at a time is happening in my life.

BUT, I do love Christmas.  The fun, the food, the joy, the wine, the ... balls.

http://www.mhfa.com.au/cms/latest-news/christmas-balls-final-2/

Christmas seemed to come late to Casa Lock this year, so I've been watching this over and over, to get in the swing of things.  So much fabulous.  My data bill is through the wazoo, but totes worth it.

And because I've been buying myself eBooks for Christmas (I know it's not Christmas yet.  Hush yo' mouth), There've been NEW BOOKS!

I've been rounding up our SARA reads at www.romancesa.blogspot.com, and here's my offering for that column, x-posted.

Emmeline Lock

I also picked up Rough Diamond, and just finished it last night.  Phew-ee! Somebody say, "Adventurous ROLLER COASTER with GOOD LAUGHS and HOT LERV"?  Couldn't put it down.  Yes, Ms Ledson.  I am a little weary today.  But I don't regret a moment!

I agree, Carla, it's a funny, quippy read that doesn't belabour the relationship between Erica and Jack, even though life throws all kinds of rotten tomatoes their way.   Check out Sandra O'Grady's thoughts on this book here.  

The ending did leave me a bit wanting, until I rationalised the whole "Um, Emmeline, dude, there's another book," thing.  Then, I felt that the ending was very well done, and felt that Jack was some kind of GOD.  Oh, yum.

Looking forward to Monkey Business, the next book.  And not just because I want more Jack.  Well, maybe not only because I want more Jack... 


Speaking of awesome Aussie writers...  Here's a few I've been mowing through like Christmas chocolates...

The Kissing Season - Rachel Johns.

I do love to read Ms Johns, and this 100-page book does nothing to tarnish my girl-crush.  

A gorgeous hero (with an accent!), a feisty heroine, a small-town feel and and Aussie Christmas!  What more could a reader want?!

Rubies and Black Velvet - Denise Rossetti

I'm a big fan of Rossetti's Four-Sided Pentacle series (Loved The Flame and the Shadow!), and this novella, which falls at #1.5,  brings us all the mystique and sultry heat of those books.

Once again, the hero, John, was a work of art.  He was perfect.  Completely sigh-worthy.  

A curse, a delectable hero, a strong heroine, well-woven fantasy and a number of beautifully-done erotic scenes.  Win!  

Originally published in Unlaced in 2008, it stands alone well, and is a well-worth a holiday read.  

Bravo, Ms Rossetti!


Speaking of gorgeous novellas, I've also had a few more crackers that I've taken off of the top of the TBR and devoured...


Starstruck in Seattle - Juliet Madison

An adorable, funny, quick read that left me wanting more Juliet Madison!

Which led me to...

I Dream of Johnny!

I would have bought this for the title and cover alone, but on the back of a surge of Juliet love, this one was awesome.  A very cute, uplifting read.  





Finally, allow me to share with you one final book that I have recently read and loved...

Catch of the Day - Carla Caruso

Isn't that just THE prettiest cover you have seen for eons?  Our summer (ha!) has started off very cold, and made me kinda depressed.  But fear not, one look at this cover and I was cured!  The colours, the water, the floppy hat and the little heart ... isn't it just perfect!?
  
Now, Ms Caruso is fully aware of my girl-crush on her (I may or may not have done some gushing over CITYGLITTER here.) and it's only marginally embarrassing for us both.   

I would happily wear a lifetime of  weird silences and cleared throats, if I could read gems such as this.  

Set in Kingston SE, this is a wonderful coming-home story (I do love those, especially when high-flying women pack up their stilettos...).  It has a number of my favourite things--a mysterious hero, a heroine who knows what she wants and doesn't dally about decision making, crystal-blue waters, small-town heart ... and crayfish!  Heaven!

Do yourself a favour, hit the beach with this great book.  NOW!

And what is really cool is that every author featured today is AUSTRALIAN!  I KNOW!  Awesome, RIGHT?  

Oi, oi, oi!


Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and see you on the flipside!

Em xx

B is for Bonza! Happy Australia Day

Yes, it is that marvellous day in the oztraylian calendar when we don our flags over our boardies, slide on the thongs (ahem, not the underwear kind), cool the beers, roll the lamingtons in desiccated coconut and light the barbie to grill our lamb.

It's Australia Day!

We are sitting here by the beach, listening to the fabricky flap of our many flags tied to our verandah, and feeling the thump as some young twits play doof doof music down in the wharf's carpark, wearing nothing but their togs, sunglasses and the occasional Australian flag beach towel.

Tomorrow, there will be sunburn on hangovers on scorched feet soles.

But today, we celebrate!

I'm about to whip up a pav, and the kids are making their annual Australia Day Australian paper cup stack. (Faith, left, Love, right)








Check also, the Aussie flag temp tatts. We're completely awesome.

Every year on this day, I'm reminded of a poem. It's a piece of iconic national verse. Even though very few people know it all, EVERYONE over the age of fifteen knows the first line of the second verse:


My Country by Dorothea Mackellar - 1885-1968, written in 1904

'The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.


I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!


A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.


Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die -
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.


Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold -
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.


An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land -
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand -
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.'


So, wherever you may be, enjoy your Australia Day--it's BONZA!

Em. Xx

The schamozzle that is geographic restrictions.

I get a real kick out of reading the sales blurbs for new books, and knowing that I can hop onto the iPad and find these brand-new-releases at Amazon.com, whence I can download them to the Kindle app and get reading RIGHT AWAY!  Bliss, eh?

It would be blissful, aside from the fact that I live in Australia, not the US.  Which ordinarily isn't something I dwell upon.  Until I want to buy a new ebook.  Lots (read, most) new eBooks aren't available to us here in Oz.  I can order the print book and have it mailed, no worries.  BUT I WANT IT NOW!  :)

This blogpost from Jane at Dear Author went a long way to dousing my grump.  Thank you Jane.  There is hope, hopefully.  I await the day I don't ever, ever require giving over headspace to something such as this.

Take care all, E x

PS 07.11.10 - Jane's next instalment Geographic Restrictions, Take Two.

I'm in! Check my pride badge...

Listening to:  HALLELUJAH - k.d.lang.  Yep, again.  I love it.  

Reading:  STRANGE BEDPERSONS Jennifer Crusie, and a ms from one of my lovely CP's, Rach! 

Working on:  final pass on HIS DEADLY ECHO, a paranormal romantic short before I send it to Rach and Anna, and I'm thinking about a new story...   


Despite my best efforts to confuse everybody by mailing in my application to RWA just prior to the conference, I'm in!

What a fabulous place!  I've caught up on the RWA's official journal, Hearts Talk, editions I've not read (grab a membership, and you too can read them!) and I've jumped on the loop, where everyone was very welcoming.  I'm also toying, in a very small way, with entering a comp or two this year.  We shall see.

Joy of joys, I found RWA has a dedicated paranormal/speculative fiction crew, too.  They've just given themselves a name, and...it's all very exciting!  More to come.

My last post, you know, the one about Christina Phillips' new release from Berkeley, FORBIDDEN, remember that?  I won a signed copy!  Yay for me!  It's on the top of the TBR, and many thanks and best of luck to the lovely Christina!  Mwah!

I've been having a bit of a reading-fest at the moment - the kids are home on school holidays, and really, who gets anything constructive done then - so I've been gobbling a few up on the iPad Kindle app.  (Amazon) Kindle has this sample option which is very cool.  I can elect to send the sample to whichever app I want (or your actual honest-to-God Kindle, too, I imagine), and I'm loving it.  The best of the recents?  All the Kresley Cole IAD series (she's brill.).  The only thing about buying eBooks is the geographic restrictions, which makes me want to pop my head in the toaster and push the lever.

I must, must, must get a hold of Joey W Hill's mermaid series (Daughters of Arianne).  They're restricted in eBook for Australia, but I can get it via Amazon or the like, as they consider the US the purchase point when you buy print books.  Anna Hackett has a thing about scales and slime, but she loved Joey W Hill.  Check out her blog post.  Oh, and DARK SIREN gets a mention!  Thanks Anna, mwah!

Speaking of Anna, she's anticipating the arrival of her fifth Nocturne Bites, called ONE NIGHT WITH THE WOLF.  I gotta tell you, I'm not a big wolf chick, but I loved the hero in this one.  Num.  There's a stunning forest/chase/wolf scene that you have GOT to read.  As soon as she gets a date, we'll pass it on.

I've also got a stack of Jenny Crusies here in paperback I'm working through.  I thought FAKING IT was great.  She's extremely talented (her dialogue makes me drool), but I always feel a little like I connect more with the heroes than the heroines.  Although, MANHUNTING has a heroine I really enjoyed, and Tilda in FAKING IT was a great character.  Davy, however was a con-artist who really made my boat float.  :)

Finally, DARK SIREN has been in NY a little over three months now.  I'm not stressing it, though.  I like to have something ready to send straight back, and the current wip has to go to Rach and Anna before I can fix it up and mail it off, so we're at least a month or more away.

As far as the new story goes, I'm thinking I might have a go at something lighter, more paranormal romantic comedy.  I've been thinking about voice, lately.

But more on that next time.  :)

Take care, all!  E x

Review - HER DARK LORD - Mel Teshco

Mel Teshco's HER DARK LORD is out this month for Silhouette Nocturne Bites.

Here's the blurb from the eHarlequin eBook site (buy it here!):

When dhampir Kia Montana takes a man home, she isn't looking for names or a relationship—she only wants someone who could satisfy her lust for both sex and blood. But Kia's new mission is to find Sean Maximillus, Lord Vampire and the lone being capable of curing Kia's mother. Kia thought she found the key to success with Ronan, a mysterious man who promises to take her to Maximillus...and who shares a carnal passion with Kia even bloodlust couldn't match.

But Ronan also seems to know too much about Kia...things she never told him. And as she is drawn deeper into Ronan's world, he reveals secrets that will change Kia's life forever...

This is Mel's first ever Bites - you might recall that I last read STONE-COLD LOVER that Mel released with Ellora's Cave. It was a great short read, and I looked forward to fellow-Aussie Mel's next offering with held breath.

One thing that does get my goat (this doesn't happen often, so look out!) is when I read reviews of short stories at places like goodreads, and the reviewer says something like, "I liked the storyline, but felt the relationship between the main characters should have been explored more."

Ah, no. In fifteen thousand words, you probably don't have time. You want drawn-out, read WAR AND PEACE.

I love Bites for precisely what they are - short action-packed, emotion fuelled reads that are like a ghost train ride - you begin, entering a completely different world, and a short time later you emerge out the other side into the sunlight, your heart pounding, your clothes slightly rumpled, but feeling much better for your visit to unreality.

HER DARK LORD delivers.

I was wondering how it would shape up after reading STONE-COLD LOVER, and Mel does beautifully.

Right from the first fresh-out-of-the-silk-sheet-encased-bed scene to the hero's final bombshell, it's a great read.

The heroine, struggling to reconcile herself with her dhampirism is nicely tormented and sexy, and the hero is ancient, wise and nummo. :)

And it's set in Australia. Really, what more could you want?

Nice one, Mel!

If you're a fan of Aussie Nocturne Bites...

then listen up!

Mel Teshco's vampire Bites, HER DARK LORD, is OUT NOW!  Congrats, Mel!

When dhampir Kia Montana takes a man home, she isn’t looking for names or a relationship--she only wants someone who can satisfy her lust for both sex and blood. But Kia’s new mission is to find Sean Maximillus, Lord Vampire and the lone being capable of curing Kia’s mother. Kia thought she found the key to success with Ronan, a mysterious man who promises to take her to Maximillus…and who shares a carnal passion with Kia even bloodlust couldn't match.
But Ronan also seems to know too much about Kia...things she never told him. And as she is drawn deeper into Ronan's world, he reveals secrets that will change Kia's life forever...

And then, Anna Hackett's HUNTER'S SURRENDER is out next month. (Yay, Anna!)

Vampire hunter Rand Wilder hated vampires – even if they were as beautiful and alluring as vampire princess Dominique Valois. For years he fought the beings who had killed his father, resisting their dangerous sensuality. Yet even Rand was tempted by the intoxicating Dominique and her shocking offer: to hurt the vampire court by taking her virginity….

A desperate need to ruin her reputation had forced Dominique to seek out the hunter known as The Darkness. But she hadn’t expected Rand to be so captivating and compassionate…. Soon a very different sort of need drove her desire to take Rand to her bed. And with Dominique’s survival depending on it, she would have to use all her skills of seduction to make this strong hunter surrender to passion….

The common link?  It's all about the vampires!

Anna and Mel have joined together to celebrate their releases and are giving away a NOCTURNE BITES EVERY WEEK for the next TWO MONTHS on their respective blogs!  How massively cool is that?  I'm gonna be all over it...

This week, until Sunday (oztime), Mel is giving away HER DARK LORD at her blog, and next week, Anna has Michele Hauf's THE VAMPIRE'S TANGO up for grabs.

Hit the blogs (names are linked up there...) and comment to be in the running!

A review - NIGHT'S COLD KISS, Tracey O'Hara.

NIGHT’S COLD KISS - Tracey O’Hara (Australia)

Publisher: Eos (Urban Fantasy) - A Harper Collins Imprint

Date published: August, 2009.

ISBN: 0061783137    (isbn13: 9780061783135)

Mass-market paperback - 332 pages.  

THE BLURB: 

For centuries war raged between the humans and Aeternus vampires—until courageous efforts on both sides forged a fragile peace.

But the rogue Necrodreniacs will never be controlled—addicted as they are to the death-high . . . and bloody chaos.

Since witnessing the murder of her mother, Antoinette Petrescu has burned with fiery hatred for the vampire race—even for Christian Laroque, the noble, dangerously handsome Aeternus who rescued her. Now an elite Venator, Antoinette must reluctantly accept Christian's help to achieve her vengeance—even as he plots to use the beautiful, unsuspecting warrior as bait to draw out the bloodthirsty dreniacs.

Night’s Cold Kiss is Tracey O’Hara’s debut effort, marketed as “A Dark Brethren Novel”.  It’s set in modern-day America, but has numerous cool futuristic bits.

Antoinette Petrescu is a tough chick with a chip the size of a redgum on her shoulder - and rightly so - a parahuman killed her mother before he six-year-old eyes.  As a result,  her hatred for any vampiric race consumes her.  Now a Venator - a Necrodreniac hunter and exterminator - she’s dogged by a parahuman who keeps slaughtering woman who look just like her.  It becomes increasingly obvious that this parahuman is also the person that killed her mother - and he was supposed to have died in a fire.  Now he’s back, killing blonde girls, as a plain old, albeit very well-trained, human, Antoinette’s not safe.

Enter Christian Laroque, an Aeternus Vampire from the CHaPR (Council for Human and Parahuman Relations), who agrees to work with Antoinette, and investigate the deaths while keeping her safe.  Antoinette does not need to know of his own motivations for keeping her close.  Added to the conflict is the fact that Christian rescued Antoinette and her brother the night of her mother’s death and her father’s disappearance.

It burns Antoinette to have anything to do with the Vampire, but he is hard to argue with, and they’re fighting an attraction that consumes them both.  

I thought that was an excellent read - I enjoyed the slightly-different-than-usual vampire lore, and the characters, depth and world-building were great.  

Oh, and in case I’ve baffled you with any strange words, there is a handy glossary at the back of the book.  

Memorable scene:

In the stateroom on the private jet.  The words “blood thrall” have any meaning for you?  Very hot.  

Least memorable part:

There were a few places early in the book where I was jolted out of the story wanting to pop a few commas and such in.  The last half of the book, I never even thought about it.  Possibly, if you’re not a writer, you might not even notice.  

A big thumbs up for Tracey O’Hara and her debut novel.  As Nalini Singh states on the cover, “Intense, sexy, bold.”  

Can’t argue with that.  

Take care, E.